California Proposes to Hijack Regenerative Agriculture

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“Regenerative agriculture provides answers to the soil crisis, the food crisis, the climate crisis, and the crisis of democracy.” Dr. Vandana Shiva

California has unilaterally decided to define Regenerative Agriculture. It is a subnational government with no formal role in the Regenerative Agriculture movement.

It has a state government with entrenched bureaucracies, such as The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), that regulate and condone some of the world’s worst excesses in industrial-scale Degenerative Agriculture on the planet.

California has the highest toxic pesticide use in the US, some of the worst excesses in industrial-scale monocultures such as the almond and other fruit and vegetable farms in the Central Valley that have destructively tilled bare soil, drenched with toxic herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and chemical fertilizers. It has large scale cruel, confined animal feeding operations. California has an unsustainable use of water. These farms are causing severe health damage to people and the environment.

Photo credit: Unsplash

The CDFA is taking submissions from interest groups. This includes agribusiness poison cartels such as Bayer/Monsanto, Syngenta, and others trying to hijack and greenwash their degenerative systems as regenerative agriculture.

The CDFA has never been involved in the regenerative agriculture movement, and this move to make a Californian definition without consulting the major regenerative organizations and including non-regenerative groups, is hijacking. The last thing the world needs is a subnational government with such a terrible record in farming systems hijacking regenerative agriculture so it can greenwash its degenerative systems.

Regeneration International is the largest and most significant regenerative organization on the planet, with 500 partners in over 70 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Australasia, the Pacific, North America, and Europe. We are the people who started the global regeneration movement.

Leaders of the organic, agroecology,  holistic management, environment, and natural health movements started Regeneration International as a genuinely inclusive and representative umbrella organization. We aimed to establish a global network of like-minded agricultural, environmental, health, and social organizations to regenerate agriculture, our health, environment, climate, and communities – which is what we have done. We continue to grow every week.

Due to the diversity of like-minded partners, regenerative agriculture is now being used as an umbrella term for the many farming systems that use techniques such as longer rotations, cover crops, green manures, legumes, compost, and organic fertilizers.  These include organic agriculture, agroforestry, agroecology, permaculture, holistic grazing, silvopasture, syntropic farming, and other agricultural systems that increase soil organic matter/carbon. Soil organic is an essential proxy for soil health – as soils with low levels are not healthy.

The regeneration movement is an innovative, dynamic space. Regeneration International has opposed simple definitions and attempts to make standards as these will inhibit this innovative movement.

Defining Regenerative Agriculture.

By definition: Regenerative systems improve the environment, soil, health, animal welfare, and communities.

The opposite of Regenerative is Degenerative

By definition: Agricultural systems that use Degenerative practices and inputs that damage the environment, soil, health, and communities and involve animal cruelty, such as synthetic toxic pesticides, synthetic water-soluble fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, confined animal feeding operations, and destructive tillage systems, are not Regenerative.

They must be called out as Degenerative Agriculture.

Regenerative and Organic based on Agroecology – the path forward.

RI’s perspective: All agricultural systems should be regenerative and organic using the science of agroecology.

Regeneration must be seen as a way to improve systems.  Practitioners must determine what practices are acceptable and what practices are degenerative and, therefore, unacceptable. The criteria to analyze this must be based on the Four Principles of Organic Agriculture. These principles are clear and effective ways to decide what practices are Regenerative and what are Degenerative.

Health

Organic agriculture should sustain and enhance the health of soil, plant, animal, human, and the planet as one and indivisible.

Ecology

Organic agriculture should be based on living ecological systems and cycles, work with them, emulate them and help sustain them.

Fairness

Organic agriculture should build on relationships that ensure fairness in the familiar environment and life opportunities.

Care

Organic agriculture should be managed in a precautionary and responsible manner to protect the health and well-being of current and future generations and the environment.

Ronnie Cummins, one of our founders, clearly stated: “Regenerative agriculture and animal husbandry is the next and higher stage of organic food and farming, not only free from toxic pesticides, GMOs, chemical fertilizers, and factory farm production, and therefore good for human health; but also regenerative in terms of the health of the soil.”

The last thing the Regenerative Agriculture movement needs is government interference by a committee of non-stakeholder bureaucrats making definitions. The French Government’s agroecology definition was a crude attempt to greenwash industrial agriculture and the use of synthetic toxic pesticides and fertilizers. It was done without input from the global agroecology movement and has weakened the integrity of agroecology.

Similarly, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization promotes a version of agroecology that allows synthetic toxic pesticides and fertilizers, which has divided the agroecology movement.

We have seen the same with the government regulation of certified organic agriculture favoring large-scale industrial organic systems over small-family farmers. The USDA regulations have been hijacked to allow hydroponics, industrial-scale cruel animal factories, synthetic feed supplements, cancer-causing nitrate preservatives, highly processed junk foods, and various derogations that have fractured the organic movement and consumers.

As the founders of the international regenerative agriculture movement, Regeneration International will continue to lead, and we will call out attempts to hijack and greenwash.

Degenerative Agriculture: Bayer/Monsanto’s and Syngenta’s Toxic Greenwashing Deception

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“Regenerative agriculture and animal husbandry is the next and higher stage of organic food and farming, not only free from toxic pesticides, GMOs, chemical fertilizers, and factory farm production, and therefore good for human health; but also regenerative in terms of the health of the soil.” Ronnie Cummins

Bayer/ Monsanto, Syngenta, and other members of the poison cartel are trying to greenwash their toxic industrial farming systems by hijacking Regenerative Agriculture.

The Opposite of Regenerative is Degenerative

By definition, agricultural systems that use Degenerative practices and inputs that damage the environment, soil, and health and involve animal cruelty, such as synthetic toxic pesticides, synthetic water-soluble fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, confined animal feeding operations, and destructive tillage systems, are not Regenerative.

They must be called out as Degenerative Agriculture.

The poison cartels justify these degenerative systems by saying their ‘precision farming’ techniques are reducing the environmental impact of their pesticides. This is an outright lie. The evidence shows that the amounts, environmental contamination, and negative impacts on human health of toxic, synthetic pesticides have increased.

The introduction of genetically modified crops such as Corn, Cotton, and Soy has resulted in a rapid increase in the use of glyphosate and other toxic herbicides


The above graph shows that the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient of Roundup, rocketed upwards in the late 1990s when Roundup-ready GMO crops were introduced.

The only credible, independent, non-industry funded, peer-reviewed lifetime feeding study of GMOs and Roundup was published by Séralini et al. It found mammary and other tumors, liver and kidney damage resulting from regular exposure to minute amounts of  Roundup or a diet containing GMO corn or both – similar to the typical exposure from non-organic foods.


The image above is of a rat with large mammary tumors due to consuming glyphosate at the usual levels found in non-organic foods. The tumors on the right-hand side, starting from the top, result from just eating GMO corn, GMO corn with Roundup, and just Roundup.

All the female rats in the study that were fed GMOs or Roundup or both (Treated Group) developed mammary tumors and died earlier than those fed non-GMO food without Roundup (Control Group), except for one rat who died early of an ovarian tumor.

Treated males had four times the number of tumors that were large enough to be felt by hand than the controls, and these occurred up to six hundred days earlier.

 The International Agency for Research on Cancer reviewed numerous scientific studies on glyphosate, giving it the second-highest rating for Cancer – Group 2A. They found sufficient evidence of animal cancers, such as thyroid cancer, and limited evidence of human cancers, most notably non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Dr. Nancy Swanson, myself, and co-authors published a peer-reviewed paper, “Genetically engineered crops, glyphosate and the deterioration of health in the United States of America,” showing how glyphosate and GMOs are linked to over 20 chronic diseases in the U.S. The increase in thyroid cancer was one of them.

There are thousands of studies showing the damaging effects of synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and GMOs on the environment and human health. These toxic inputs are clearly degenerative and have no place in regenerative agriculture.

The Founders of Regeneration International Started the Global Regeneration Revolution

Leaders of the organic, agroecology, holistic management, environment, and natural health movements started Regeneration International as a genuinely inclusive and representative umbrella organization in 2015. Hardly anyone had heard of regenerative agriculture before then. It is in the news every day worldwide now because of our initial actions.

The founding steering committee included Dr. Vandana Shiva from Navdanya, Ronnie Cummins from the Organic Consumers Association, Dr. Hans Herren from The Millennium Institute, Steve Rye from Mercola, and myself, Dr. André Leu, President of IFOAM-Organics International at that time. It was soon expanded to include relevant leaders from every continent.

We are the largest and most significant regenerative organization on the planet, with 500 partners in over 70 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Australasia, the Pacific, North America, and Europe.

Regeneration International has a mission to promote, facilitate and accelerate the global transition to regenerative food, farming, and land management to regenerate the environment and climate and end world hunger. We must rebuild deteriorated social, ecological, and economic systems.


As the founders of the international regenerative agriculture movement, we will continue to lead, and we will call out attempts to hijack and greenwash for what it is – Degenerative Agriculture by toxic degenerative corporations.

Extinction or Regeneration

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May 11th and 12th, 2023, RI’s friends and affiliates, Compassion in World Farming and  IPES-Food, hosted the Extinction or Regeneration conference in the heart of London at the Queen Elizabeth II Center in Westminster, which provided a platform for experts across the globe to share solutions for how we can transform our food and farming systems for better human, animal, and planetary health via a whole food systems approach to providing sufficient nutritious food for an expanding world population while remaining within the safe operating space of all nine planetary boundaries while protecting wild and domestic animals and restoring soils, oceans, forests, and biodiversity.

Watch this presentation by Regeneration International’s international director Dr. André Leu to learn about RI’s current project to scale up regenerative organic agriculture globally and eliminate rural poverty.

 

Full talks featuring Dr. Vandana and Dr. André Leu from the Extinction or Regeneration 2023 event are available here.

Talk by Dr. Vandana Shiva                                                       Talk by Dr. Andrè Leu
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Regeneration International, Regenerativa Chile and Other Groups Convene in Lead-Up to COP 25 Climate Summit

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SANTIAGO, Chile – To measure Chile’s growing interest in regenerative agriculture one need look no further than a one-day conference held in the Chilean capital of Santiago, where an unexpectedly high turnout filled the venue to capacity—some would-be participants were even turned away.

The overarching message to emerge from the July 1 conference held in the Santiago office of Regenerativa Chile? This: Regenerative agriculture is gaining ground in Chile and throughout South America, but there’s still much work to be done. What’s needed to take the regeneration movement to the next level is greater coordination and cooperation among those involved in this work in these regions.

The event was part of Regenerativa Chile’s IPA—Ideas Para la Accion (Ideas for Action)—sessions. Organizers included Regenerativa Chile; Carnes Manada, a Chilean company that promotes regenerative meat production; the Agronomy Department of the Catholic University of Chile; local regeneration ally El Manzano, an ecological and educational research center for sustainability in Bio Bio, Chile; and Efecto Manada, the Savory Institute’s Global Hub in Chile.

The conference was the first of many events being organized by Regeneration International and local allies in the lead-up to the COP 25 Climate Summit, to be held in Santiago December 2-13.

Conference speakers included Javiera Carrión, co-founder and co-director of El Manzano, a farm of more than 400 acres committed to land stewardship. El Manzano is a GAIA university-Latin America leader and one of the pioneer organizations in Chile offering workshops on permaculture, eco-village design, sustainable land management and human development. Carrión reflected on the many years of her regenerative agriculture work in Chile and the need for larger, more coordinated efforts to make the regenerative agriculture movement stronger and more cohesive.

Conference speaker Cristóbal Gatica, co-founder of Carnes Manada, emphasized the need to create a closer connection between producers and consumers. The movement for regenerative meat in Chile is gaining traction, Gatica said, and Chilean consumers are starting to recognize the importance of eating regenerative meat.

Other speakers included Isidora Molina, founder of Efecto Manada, a Savory Network organization that promotes regenerative meat production (unrelated to Carnes Manada). Molina spoke of the changes she has seen in the past few years and of how Efecto Manada has worked to gain the trust and confidence of its neighbors and nearby farm owners who were initially skeptical of Efecto Manada’s holistic management approach to regenerative meat production.

Ercilia Sahores, Latin American director of Regeneration International, discussed the importance of building a regenerative movement by integrating local regenerators with the support of an international umbrella such as Regeneration International. Sahores also examined recent changes in the international discussion around regeneration. 

Dr Rafael Larraín, professor in the Animal Science, Agronomy and Forestry Department of the Catholic University of Chile, stressed the importance of the collaboration between academic researchers and hands-on practitioners. Larraín also suggested closer collaboration between Regeneration International, the 4 per 1000 initiative, the Catholic University of Chile and the entire regenerative movement.

Finally, the conference’s discussions around the rapidly approaching COP 25 summit made clear the importance of having a robust presence at the official COP 25, and the importance of organizing other, parallel activities to help nourish and strengthen the worldwide Regenerative Agriculture movement.

The conference was moderated by Mauricio Ramos of Regenerativa Chile, who stressed the urgency and commitment of being part of global change—every day.  Ramos also spoke on the importance of reflecting on what we do and how we can all contribute to being part of that change.

Ercilia Sahores is a member of the Regeneration International steering committee and Latin America Director. To keep up with news and events, sign up here for the Regeneration International newsletter.

(Spanish ) Japan’s Ministry of Ag Acknowledges Role of Regenerative Farming in Climate Solution

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A breakthrough conference on agriculture and climate change took place May 13-15 in Japan, and Regeneration International was there.

While the content and interaction of the “Agriculture Is the Solution to Climate Change” conference in Otsu, Japan, was dynamic and important, perhaps the most important takeaway from the conference was who organized the event in the first place.

The conference was co-sponsored by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in what could be interpreted as a tacit recognition by the world’s third largest economy that agriculture must play a key role in climate-change mitigation.  

The conference was also sponsored by the 4 per 1000 Initiative, and was supported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO), the World Bank, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Rothamsted Research, and the governments of France and Germany, among others – and it took place just one day after IPCC wrapped up its 49th session in Kyoto, just 13 kilometers from Otsu.

Key speakers from 4 per 1000 and the major supporting organizations and governments all upheld the importance of building soil heath to fight climate change. It was the first-ever international conference in Asia about changing agriculture by adopting management systems that increase soil organic matter as a drawdown and adaptation solution to the climate crisis.

Rice is the most important staple crop in Asia, and RI’s international director Andre Leu gave a keynote presentation on Systems of Rice Intensification (SRI).

SRI can double rice yields, and massively reduce methane emissions, thanks to its lower water usage – and when combined with cover crops, SRI can result in significant soil sequestration of carbon. SRI is a powerful solution for rice farmers all around the world faced with increasing threats of drought, typhoon and coastal storm surge.

A number of RI partners, such as the Biodynamic Association of India and the League of Organic Municipalities and Cities of the Philippines, also took part in the conference, and gave presentations on best practices for mitigating the natural carbon increase in farmland soils.

During an interview with Regeneration International, Paul Luu, Executive Secretary of 4 per 1000, said policymakers and farmers are putting more and more emphasis on agroecology.  Luu spoke about the strong need for more research to be carried out on agroecology, biodynamic farming and regenerative agriculture – for it to be useful in advising transitioning conventional farmers in accordance to their requirements.

Despite there being no mention of climate change in the G7 meeting of agriculture ministers held a few days earlier in nearby Tokyo (because of abstention by the United States government), the Japanese government is working with 4 per 1000 Initiative to include 4 per 1000’s framework in the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA). KJWA is a decision reached at the UN Climate Conference (COP23) in November 2017, to officially acknowledge the significance of the agriculture sectors in adapting to and mitigating climate change.

The implementation of KJWA is supported by the UNFAO in partnership with other actors at national and international levels. Under this decision the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) supports countries providing technical support to adapt to and mitigate climate change, working in close collaboration with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other partners.

Regeneration International will showcase the progress made by the 4 per 1000 Initiative to encourage countries to come on board with a Soil Health Revolution in agriculture (dubbed the Brown Revolution) at its next General Assembly in Chile in December 2019, to be held in conjunction with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP 25 summit in Santiago de Chile December 2-13.

Oliver Gardiner is the Organic Consumers Association and Regeneration International’s roving reporter.To keep up with news and events, sign up here for the Regeneration International newsletter.