Regenerative Agriculture is the zero waste trend that you need to know about.
Most recently added to zero waste trends is regenerative agriculture. Whole Foods says it’s the number-one food trend of next year. Regenerative agriculture is a system of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services. The result is carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle, increased yields, resilience to climate instability, and higher health and vitality for farming and ranching communities.
Apparel company, Patagonia says it will be rolling out products made using the practice early next year. General Mills says that it will employ regenerative agriculture on about a quarter of the land it uses in North America (one million acres). Additionally, big brands like Dr. Bronners and Justin’s Nut Butters are also behind the regenerative agriculture movement.
Now if these major companies are making a big deal of regenerative agriculture then it must be. Let’s take a closer look to see why.
Essentially, environment regenerative agriculture improves the land. It does so by using technologies and incorporating permaculture and organic farming practices that regenerate and revitalize the soil. Such practices include:
- Conservation tillage;
- Cover crops;
- Crop rotation;
- Composting;
- Mobile animal shelters; and
- Pasture cropping
All of this increases food production, farmers’ income and especially, topsoil. Hence, regenerative agriculture leads to healthy soil, capable of producing high quality, nutrient dense food while simultaneously improving, rather than degrading land.
According to Regeneration International, this is important because the loss of the world’s fertile soil and biodiversity, along with the loss of indigenous seeds and knowledge, pose a mortal threat to our future survival. In fact, soil scientists predict that at current rates of soil destruction (i.e. decarbonization, erosion, desertification, chemical pollution), within 50 years we will suffer serious damage to public health due to a qualitatively degraded food supply. It is said that this will be characterized by diminished nutrition and loss of important trace minerals. They further predict that we will not be able to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.
The United Nations says that regenerative agriculture could offset total global emissions by 10 percent. Hence, regenerative agriculture supports every living organism on the planet in a vast number of ways, some of which include:
- Decreasing GHG emissions
- Reversing climate change
- Improving yields
- Creating drought-resistant soil
- Revitalizing local economies (specifically family farms)
- Preserving traditional knowledge (indigenous farming systems)
- Nurturing biodiversity
- Restoring grasslands
- Improving nutrition
- Fighting erosion
- Negating the need for chemicals
Now as we gear up for Spring it may be a good time to encourage more big brands to get behind the regenerative agriculture movement. You can influence this as a consumer by seeking out companies that have the Regenerative Organic Certification. It might also be a good idea to chat with local farmers and grocers to see where your food is coming from and how it’s produced. In this way we can collectively impact the system for the better.
Regenerative Agriculture is the new zero waste trend that you need to know about… Spread the world…
