What is Regenerative Agriculture?

Regenerative agriculture is a term that is popping up everywhere from the supermarket shelf to the White House, but what is it really?

Many consumers have a general idea about what it aims to accomplish but are unclear about the details or how it actually applies at the farm level.

For now, the term regenerative has no legal definition. This means that companies can use it however they wish in their marketing materials. Although there are some benefits to leaving the term undefined, it also invites greenwashing. This is a term used to describe any situation where a company markets or represents its products as much more eco-friendly than they actually are.

Although there is a great deal of debate about what regenerative agriculture does or does not include, there are a few common concepts that many seem to agree on. 

In general, regenerative agriculture aims to mimic nature’s natural systems as closely as possible. This means moving away from producing one crop in a monoculture system and integrating cover crops, livestock, and other measures. Cover crops are plants that are used to slow down erosion, improve soil health, advance water availability, and control weeds as opposed to food crops like corn or wheat that are grown for human consumption.

It also encourages farmers and ranchers to take a complete, holistic approach to manage their operations instead of focusing on only a few variables like yield or profit.

Here are a few important things to know about the regenerative agriculture movement.

The 5 Key Principles

North Dakota farmer Gabe Brown is a popular name in the regenerative farming circle. After becoming disenchanted with the conventional farming system, Brown set out to adopt a new way of farming for his acreage. 

• Minimize or eliminate tillage 

• Keep the soil surface covered to eliminate erosion

• Keep living plant roots in the soil as long as possible

• Increase biodiversity

• Integrate livestock

Washington State University’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources and summarizes each of these five principles and why they are so important. You can also watch Brown’s TEDx talk in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where he explains these principles and how he developed them on his farm.

It’s about more than food

For many, regenerative agriculture is about taking into consideration many variables that may not be accounted for in the current food production paradigm. A few examples include

• Labor -- Improving labor conditions, wages, and rights for farmworkers. 

• Decentralization -- Creating new food supply chains that focus on supporting a local economy instead of a far-flung supply chain

• Processing -- Opening more processing plants to support small- and mid-scale livestock production

These are just a few examples of some of the broader social justice and food system goals that stakeholders are hoping to achieve through regenerative agriculture.

It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach

Much of conventional agriculture involves plug-and-play systems that are meant to work across many different acres and to be scaled up as quickly as possible. Because regenerative agriculture considers a farm or ranch from a holistic point of view, however, one-size-fits-all approaches are not going to work. 

Part of the goal of regenerative agriculture for some farmers and ranchers is to embrace the unique attributes of their land, to work on species habitat restoration, or to bring back native species of plants. What works in one region may not work well in another region, however. This makes regenerative agriculture more challenging than some conventional systems because a bit more legwork is usually required to figure out which systems fit each piece of land best.

Regenerative is getting fashionable, too

The textile industry is one of the most detrimental to the environment and human health. In most cases, synthetic leather is made from two plastic-based substances polyurethane (PU) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PVC has been identified by numerous organizations as one of the most environmentally damaging types of plastic. Many vegan leather makers also rely on plasticisers like phthalates to make the material flexible.

Wool and leather, two valuable byproducts of animal agriculture. Might be making a comeback thanks in part to regenerative agriculture’s hype. Patagonia promotes regenerative organic agriculture, Timberland is sourcing regenerative leather for its boots, and The North Face just announced that it is designing a collection around regenerative cotton in partnership with Indigo Ag.

There are new certifications for regenerative agriculture

The fact that regenerative is not defined at the USDA or FDA level makes some people nervous about how the term will be used. Without clear boundaries between what is and is not regenerative, the term could get watered down or lose its meaning. 

To address this, some groups have created certification programs and food labels to help interested consumers identify products that align with certain versions of regenerative. They include:

• Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) -- Rodale Institute, an organic research group, recently created the ROC label. It goes above and beyond the current requirements for organic agriculture in a few different ways such as incorporating labor standards. It’s also designed to encourage participants to keep striving for new goals and improvements instead of staying at one level.

• Real Organic Project (ROP) -- Although ROP does not specifically reference regenerative farming, it is aimed at restoring organic farming to what many describe as its true origins. Proponents of this label tend to believe that the current USDA certification for organic misses a lot of key principles like soil health and raising animals on pasture.

• Ecological Outcome Verified (EOV) -- Created by the Savory Institute, this certification focuses on measuring how farming practices impact the land and whether identifiable improvements can be verified. Soil health, biodiversity, and ecosystem function are a few of the metrics that it tracks.

• Certified Regenerative (CR) -- Created by A Greener World, CR aims to capture the core concepts of regenerative farming like soil health and biodiversity while also emphasizing broader holistic goals like worker rights, livestock transportation welfare, and more.
  

Learn more about regenerative farming with Sacred Cow

The documentary and book Sacred Cow aims to educate that when it comes to meat production’s impact on the environment it’s not the cow, it’s the how. Explore and share www.sacredcow.info to learn more about the nutritional, environmental, and ethical case for better meat, how it relates to regenerative agriculture, and how you can support it.

Meg Chatham is a brand strategist, community developer, and digital content marketer. She creates, designs, and manages all social media, web, and newsletter content for Sacred Cow and Sustainable Dish. She is currently based in Texas, where she enjoys running and hiking in between sips of espresso. Learn more here.