Regenerative agriculture is an approach to farming and land management that aims to enhance and restore the health of ecosystems, improve soil fertility, promote biodiversity, and address climate change. The core philosophy is to work with natural processes to create resilient and sustainable agricultural systems. The terms sustainable and regenerative agriculture are loosely defined, and their definition can be interpreted in various ways. This has even resulted in their co-option by the agribusiness corporations. Using a more comprehensive and holistic view, the main principles and practices associated with regenerative agriculture include:
Regenerative agriculture goes beyond sustainable agriculture by actively seeking to restore and enhance the health of ecosystems, rather than merely maintaining the status quo. While sustainable agriculture aims to minimize negative impacts on the environment and depletion of resources, regenerative agriculture is about actively improving ecological and soil health over time.
Regenerative agriculture also goes beyond organic agriculture by emphasizing a holistic and dynamic approach to farming that focuses on actively restoring and improving ecosystems. While both regenerative and organic agriculture share the goal of sustainable and environmentally friendly food production, regenerative agriculture extends its scope to address broader ecological and social considerations.
There are a number of farming practices, some rooted in indigenous traditions, considered as alternatives to conventional industrial agriculture. Depending on how they are practiced, they fall within the spectrum of sustainable to regenerative farming systems. Some noteworthy farming practices include:
Some of these practices employ distinct philosophies, principles, and techniques. And for some, their practices mainly overlap, with differences being hard to differentiate. For example:
It is important to note that humans have been practicing agriculture for around 12,000 years. Only in the past century have we developed a varied nomenclature to define different methods of cultivating crops and producing food. Being certified or identifying with a certain buzzword does not necessarily indicate adherence to the philosophy and principles of sustainable or regenerative farming. For example, many certified organic farms, especially larger ones, face criticism for potentially mimicking conventional industrial practices by merely replacing synthetic chemical inputs with organic inputs while employing monocultures and disregarding soil health and biodiversity. Similarly, a permaculture or agroecology farm may carry the name of permaculture or agroecology without fully putting into practice respective permaculture's/agroecological principles and ethos.
As buzzwords such as sustainable and regenerative have gained popularity and consumer interest while being loosely defined, major players in industrial farming have jumped on the bandwagon and freely use such terms for their practices. Therefore, there is ongoing debate and concern within the sustainable agriculture community about the co-optation of terms like 'regenerative agriculture' by agribusiness corporations, potentially leading to greenwashing practices. Critics point out that there's a risk of the term 'regenerative agriculture' being diluted or misused, and that some agribusinesses may adopt the term without making substantial changes to their conventional practices. This could involve minimal adjustments to existing systems, potentially to improve public relations rather than to genuinely embrace regenerative principles.
For example, the concept of regenerative farming is used by some farmers in the context of reduced or no-tillage (and maybe with rotation of cover crops) along with extensive use of monocultures of genetically modified plants and chemical inputs such as the glyphosate herbicide.
To address this concern, some advocate for clear standards and certifications that define what qualifies as regenerative agriculture. For example, the Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC) has been introduced to establish specific criteria for regenerative practices, covering soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness. Certifications like this aim to provide consumers with a more reliable understanding of the practices behind the products labeled as regenerative. Consumers, advocates, and farmers play essential roles in promoting and demanding transparency and authenticity in the use of such terms ( see reference 1, reference 2).
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