Top 6 Reasons to Support Regenerative Agriculture

It’s easy to forget that at one point, not so long ago, all food was organically grown in a way that supported the ecosystem and environment. This all changed in the 1940s when the Green Revolution took hold and industrial, chemical-dependent farming techniques spread and quickly became the norm.

Unfortunately, industrial farming has created a series of unsustainable situations in less than 70 years, and evidence suggests we will not make it until the end of the century if we continue along the path of degenerative food and farming. Virtually every growing environmental and health problem can be traced back to modern food production. This includes but is not limited to:

The good news is there’s a viable answer to all of these problems that does not merely scratch at the surface, and the answer hinges on the widespread implementation of regenerative agriculture and biodynamic farming. This is why I support the Organic Consumers Association and Regeneration International.

By learning from each other and educating consumers to affect change through your shopping habits, there’s hope we may avoid a complete breakdown of our ecosystem and food production. One thing’s for sure: We cannot wait for regulations to drive this change. We must push for it ourselves, and we do so by voting with our pocketbooks every time we shop for food.

While this is a very broad topic with many interlacing components that could cover several books, here, I summarize half a dozen of the top reasons to support regenerative and biodynamic farming, and provide resources where you can further your own education.

Reason No. 1: Regenerative Farming Rebuilds Topsoil

Topsoil destruction, erosion and desertification are exacerbated by tilling, monocropping and not using cover crops. Maria-Helena Semedo of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has warned that at the current rate of topsoil degradation, all the world’s topsoil will be gone in less than 60 years,¹ at which point growing of food will become next to impossible.

Closely related problems are the loss of soil fertility and biodiversity, which is directly related to the loss of natural carbon in the soil. An estimated 80 percent of soil carbon in heavily farmed areas has already been lost,² due to destructive plowing, overgrazing and the use of soil-destructive, carbon-depleting chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Carbon management — pulling carbon out of the air and sequestering it into the soil — is a critical aspect of environmental health and the growing of food. A key strategy to sequester carbon in soil is to use cover crops. In other words, soil should never be left exposed, as without root systems holding the soil in place, soil erosion speeds up.

Mixed grasses also nourish the soil microbiome, which need the plant interaction. Nature abhors monoculture. In 1 square foot of pristine prairie land, you’ll find about 140 different plants, and this is the type of natural biodiversity regenerative farmers aim to mimic. Regenerative farmers also understand the necessity of livestock.

An article³ by Pure Advantage notes how “there is no current or envisioned technology that can simultaneously sequester carbon, restore biodiversity and feed people. But livestock can …” Indeed, Gabe Brown, a regenerative land management pioneer, discussed this in-depth in our 2014 interview, covered in “How to Regenerate Soil Using Cover Crops and Regenerative Land Management.”

The success of Will Harris’ grass fed ranching operation in Georgia (detailed in my July 2016 interview with him), and thousands of other ranches across the U.S. and the world, also testify to the regenerative power of grazing animals. The percentage of organic matter in soil is a good indicator of quality, and Harris has been able to increase organic matter in his soil from less than 0.5 percent to as much as 5 percent in a 20-year period.

Reason No. 2: Regenerative Farming Protects Water Sources and Diminishes Water Demands

Industrial agriculture also promotes water waste through use of flood irrigation, destruction of soil quality and poor crop choices. As a result, one-third of the largest groundwater aquifers are already nearing depletion,⁴ as we’re extracting water at a far faster pace than the aquifers can refill.

According to James Famiglietti, a senior water scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the majority of our global groundwaters “are past sustainability tipping points,”⁵ which means it’s only a matter of time until we run out of fresh water. About 80 percent of U.S. consumptive water (and more than 90 percent in many Western states) is used for agricultural purposes.⁶

Large-scale monocrop farms and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are also a primary source of water pollution.⁷ According to a report⁸ by Environment America, corporate agribusiness is “one of the biggest threats to America’s waterways.”

Tyson Foods Inc. was deemed among the worst. Researchers have warned that many lakes around the world are now at grave risk from fertilizer runoff that feeds harmful blue-green algae (cyanobacteria)^9,10 and, once established, it’s far more difficult to get rid of than previously thought.

Regenerative farming addresses both water waste and water pollution. Not only are synthetic fertilizers and toxic pesticides not needed when you grow crops and raise animals in a symbiotic fashion that supports the health and balance of the environment, but the more organic matter there is in the soil, the more moisture it can hold.

For each 1 percent increase in organic matter, each acre of soil can retain another 20,000 gallons of water, thereby reducing the need for irrigation with precious groundwater.¹¹

Reason No. 3: Regenerative Farming Promotes Optimal Nutrition and Health

The industrialization and centralization of food production was done to increase farmers’ capacity to grow more food at a lower cost. Unfortunately, a core principle was lost in this efficiency equation — that of food quality and nutrient density.

Tests reveal the nutrient content of foods has dramatically declined since the introduction of mechanized farming in 1925. As just one example, research by August Dunning, chief science officer and co-owner of Eco Organics, reveals that to receive the amount of iron you used to get from one apple in 1950, by 1998 you had to eat 26 apples; today you have to eat 36, and this is a direct consequence of industrial farming techniques and use of chemicals that destroy soil quality by killing essential microbes.

We now know that, just as the human gut microbiome plays integral roles in human health, so the soil microbiome influences nutrient uptake and plant health. Soil microbes even help regulate the invasion of pests.

It’s not surprising then that as nutrient density declined and toxic exposures via food increased, obesity and chronic disease rates have dramatically risen — so much so that obesity now threatens to overtake hunger as the No. 1 global health concern.¹²

Many choose organic because of what you don’t get — the pesticides, genetically modified organisms and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, for instance — but the benefits also extend to basic nutrition. For example:

• When cows are allowed plenty of access to forage, organic milk contains about 25 percent less omega-6 fats and 62 percent more omega-3 fats than conventional milk, along with more vitamin E, beta-carotene and beneficial conjugated linoleic acid.¹³
• Organically grown foods contain significantly higher levels of antioxidants than conventionally grown varieties,¹⁴ including beneficial compounds linked to a reduced risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases and certain cancers.¹⁵

Reason No. 4: Food From Animals Raised on Regenerative Farms Minimize Risks of Foodborne Illness and Drug-Resistant Disease

While health agencies insist raw and unsterilized foods such as raw organic milk are hazardous to human health, statistics tell a very different story. In reality, the foods associated with the greatest number of foodborne illnesses are all factory farmed, with CAFO chicken leading the pack.

Between 2009 and 2015 there were 5,760 reported foodborne outbreaks in the U.S.,¹⁶ resulting in 100,939 illnesses, 5,699 hospitalizations and 145 deaths. Of these, chicken was responsible for 12 percent of all illnesses, followed by pork and seeded vegetables, each of which was responsible for 10 percent of illnesses.

Indeed, raw CAFO chicken has become a notorious carrier of Salmonella, Campylobacter, Clostridium perfringens and Listeria bacteria.¹⁷ In New Zealand, Michael Baker, a public health researcher and professor at University of Otago, has suggested the implementation of a “tobacco-style” warning label on all raw chicken items to inform shoppers about the health risks involved.¹⁸

Testing reveals a majority of CAFO beef is also contaminated with risky pathogens.^19,20 A 2017 report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed 22 percent of antibiotic-resistant illness in humans is linked to consumption of contaminated foods, and tests have shown ground beef from animals raised in CAFOs is three times more likely to contain antibiotic-resistant bacteria than organic grass fed beef.²¹

The reason contamination with drug-resistant microbes is par for the course in CAFOs is due to the overuse of antibiotics in CAFO livestock. Organic grass fed standards, on the other hand, do not permit the use of antibiotics,²² which is why grass fed beef is less likely to be contaminated with drug-resistant bacteria.

Reason No. 5: Regenerative Agriculture Prevents Environmental Pollution and Restores Damaged Ecosystems

Our water supplies are not the only resource being decimated by pollution from CAFOs and monocrop industrial farms. They’re also responsible for a significant amount of land and air pollution, and in a variety of different ways, including:

Regenerative agriculture is a return to what organic was originally all about — the protection and rebuilding of topsoil and ecological biodiversity and health. Biodynamic farming is the real gold standard here, as it’s both organic and regenerative, and then some.

Not only does biodynamic farming provide superior crops both in volume and increased density of nutrients, but biodynamic farms are also completely self-sustaining — something that cannot be said even for most organic farms. For example, biodynamic standards do not simply require farmers to use organic animal feed. Most of the feed must actually originate from the farm itself.

And, while an organic farmer can section off as little as 10 percent of the farm for the growing of certified organic goods, to be certified as a biodynamic, 100 percent of your farm must be in compliance. In addition to that, 10 percent of the land must be dedicated to increasing biodiversity. This could take the form of forest land, wetland or insectary, for example.

Biodynamic farming also has all of the features associated with regenerative agriculture, such as crop rotation, the use of cover crops and so on. Having animals integrated on the farm, with a focus on animal welfare, is another core principle of biodynamic farming. In short, the farm is viewed as a living organism — a living, self-sustainable whole — and biodiversity of both plants and animals are viewed as integral.

This is really as good as it gets, and buying foods produced by farms certified as biodynamic through Demeter offers the greatest assurance of food quality and environmental sustainability.

Reason No. 6: Regenerative Agriculture Benefits Farmers and Builds Sustainable Local Economies

While profitability is commonly cited as a determining factor for why farmers “cannot” farm organically anymore, research refutes such scaremongering. One such study^31,32 found organic farmers actually earn 22 to 35 percent more than their industrial counterparts.

What’s more, regenerative agriculture can also help create regenerative economies based on values and principles that go far beyond merely making money,³³ thereby benefiting society in practical ways beside a cleaner, healthier environment and more nutritious, less toxic food. 

In a 2015 article, John Fullerton, founder and president of Capital Institute, presented the organization’s views on regenerative capitalism, which is built on universal principles of health and wholeness. “We have identified eight key, interconnected principles that underlie systemic health,” he writes. These eight principles, which he proposes be part of a regenerative economic system, include:

Educate Yourself on the Benefits of Regenerative and Biodynamic Agriculture

I’ve made it a mission to educate myself and others about the truly global benefits of regenerative and biodynamic farming. In doing so, I’ve traveled around the country, visiting a number of different thought leaders and experts to see their farm operations firsthand, and I’ve written extensively about this topic over the past several years.

Following is a list of some of the many experts I’ve interviewed with links to their interviews. You can also learn more about regenerative food, farming and land use on Regeneration International’s website.

How to Affect Change Seven Days a Week

A growing number of homeowners have responded to the call for cleaner, healthier foods by converting their yards into edible landscaping using organic and regenerative methods. But even if you’re not growing your own food, you can still help steer the agricultural industry toward safer, more regenerative systems by choosing fresh, organic produce from local growers.

Remember to choose organic, grass fed beef, poultry and dairy, in addition to organic produce, as CAFOs are among the worst polluters. CAFO meats (including poultry, beef and pork) are also far more prone to be contaminated with pathogens that can trigger illness, including drug-resistant bacteria.

Certifications to look for, denoting the highest quality foods, grown according to regenerative principles, include Demeter (biodynamic certification) and the American Grassfed Association (AGA) certification.

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