ContentsOrigins • What is regenerative? • Organic vs. regenerative • Key principles • Limitations • What do we need from regenerative agriculture? • Documentary
Origins of the term Back in the late 1980s, Robert Rodale, a big name in organic farming, started pushing the idea of regenerative agriculture. He thought the term “regenerative” was more powerful than sustainable.
“I prefer the idea of regenerative agriculture. I’m not satisfied with the term sustainability [...] I don’t think the average person wants to live in a sustained environment, they want to live something that is expanding and going better, so I think the idea of regeneration is more appealing.” Robert Rodale
What is regenerative all about?While there is still no universal definition for regenerative agriculture, the broad goal is to adopt agricultural practices that leave both people and the planet in a better state than when production first started. And the movement is gaining momentum for good reason.Since the 1960s, conventional agriculture has relied on fossil fuels and synthetic inputs like fertilisers and pesticides to boost agricultural production. While this successfully helped us to provide enough calories for a growing population, conventional practices also cause some serious problems. As of today, our current food system is a major driver of greenhouse gases, biodiversity loss, water use, and a widespread reduction in soil health - something we’ll need to maintain if we are to keep producing food long into the future. Read: Chemical Fertilisers are Feeding the World — But at What Cost? ⟶ Watch: Why do we use pesticides? ⟶
Regenerative agriculture offers a solution to this — aiming to store more carbon than is produced (sequestration), improve biodiversity, and prioritise the long term health of soils.
But with regenerative agriculture not quite fitting the mould for conventional or organic, where does it really fit into the wider picture of farming movements? Learn more about the history that led us to regenerative farming ⟶
Unlike organic methods, which stick to strict practices in order to meet clear and well regulated standards, regenerative farming is all about following a set of guiding principles and aiming for tangible outcomes. Farmers have the freedom to interpret how they apply these principles to achieve those outcomes. In other words, there’s no one-size-fits-all method. It’s up to each farmer to figure out what works best for their unique situation, incorporating knowledge of their own land and the complex organisms within local soil. Read why many are pushing for stricter regenerative agriculture regulations ⟶
1: Don’t disturb the soil No-till farming preserves soil structure, retains moisture, and protects nutrients, making the soil more resilient to erosion and extreme weather. Hear more from a no-till farmer
2: Keep a cover on the land Keeping plant cover shields soil from erosion, maintains moisture, and protects microorganisms, reducing damage from rain and temperature fluctuations. Could crops from the past be the key to a more resilient future?
3: Keep living roots in the soil Living roots from cover crops boost nutrient cycling, support soil microbes, and prevent nutrient loss, improving soil fertility and health.Learn more about the power of perennials crops
4: Increase crop diversity (polyculture) Diverse crops foster a richer soil ecosystem, enhancing water retention, carbon storage, and soil resilience, especially in dry regions. Could polyculture be the key to food security?
5: Integrate animals Integrating livestock provides natural fertilisation, supports soil recovery, and diversifies farm income while reducing the need for synthetic inputs. Is animal agriculture all bad?
The limitations of regenerative agricultureOver the past few years, some of the biggest food production companies in the world have jumped on the regenerative agriculture bandwagon. But from loose regulations to labour force issues, there are still a number of very real limitations that hold regenerative back from going global at scale.#1 It is really hard to measure progress
“It’s very, very difficult to find indicators that we could really use in a consistent way to tell a story and to monitor the benefits of what we're doing, I’m afraid.” Ken Giller, Emeritus Professor in Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University
#2 Not all regenerative agriculture projects focus their attention to the social dimension of farming
“Regenerative agriculture and agroecology sign up often to issues of fairness and equity which go beyond the actual crop production to the way that the whole food system works.”Ken Giller, Emeritus Professor in Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University
But farmers’ numbers are declining around the world. The World Bank's numbers for employment in agriculture show that the decline has been sharp
“My fear for regenerative is that before it has a chance to be taken seriously and to be established with proper frameworks and processes, it’s overused to the point where consumers lose their trust in that term.” Finn Harries, Co-founder at Juntos Farm
What do we need from regenerative agriculture?#1 Clearer standards to avoid misuse#2 Adaptable standards to bridge the gap between organic and conventional farming
From our understanding, instead of asking whether regenerative agriculture can feed the world, it’s more useful to see it as a tool to restore degraded lands, support small-scale farmers, and combat desertification. It promotes a shift in mindset: treating the land as an ecosystem to nurture, not exploit.Any move toward a better system is welcome, but there’s a catch: if corporate agriculture adopts regenerative practices without a serious plan to rethink our broader farming and distribution systems, we run the risk of seeing “regenerative” become just another buzzword—a shiny label on the same old business model—while the climate, environmental, and social crises tied to our food system continue unabated.
Watch our documentary In this new FoodUnfolded documentary, science journalist Silvia Lazzaris takes us on a journey around the globe to explore the limits and promises of truly “regenerative” agriculture. From Ernst Gotsch’s lush syntropic farm in Bahia, Brazil—where once-barren land has blossomed into a thriving ecosystem—to Juntos Farm in Ibiza, where regenerative farming is strengthening communities, you can witness the movement in action. But we don’t stop there—Silvia goes further, speaking with leading soil health and agroecology experts to investigate whether regenerative agriculture can genuinely deliver on its promises.Jump to the documentary
Editor’s note: As with all of the work we publish across our channels, everything has been reviewed for factual accuracy. Original sources for any statements, statistics, or figures in this piece can be found within the full versions of the articles and videos linked within.