7 Ways to Join the Movement for Regenerative Food + Farming
- No Footprint Left Behind
- Jul 23, 2020
- 5 min read
1. Start small! Shifting to eating all regeneratively raised foods would be an enormous task, and honestly probably impossible unless you yourself are a farmer, or you live next door to one. We realize that regenerative farms are still the minority and can be difficult to find. It’s totally okay, and reasonable, to start small.
So where do you even start? Before you even make any changes to your food purchasing habits, visit a regenerative farm near you and learn about how it works. Not sure how to find one? See tip #3! Many of these farms do what’s called “farm-to-table meals” where you can come to the farm and eat a meal made completely from food that was grown right there in the very soil you’re standing on. These are truly one of the coolest experiences and we highly recommend seeking out farms that do this! It will give you a whole new appreciation for your food, and if that’s the one thing you take from it, then that’s a HUGE step. If you don’t have one near you, start by doing some research on what regenerative farming entails! Check out our other recent posts on this topic for more resources:
2. Get familiar with the terminology. Next time you're at the grocery store, pay attention to the labels on your perishable foods, specifically eggs and meats. Read them thoroughly and question what the terminology tells you about how the food was grown. Some common examples listed below.
- Grass-fed: simply means that the animal's diet primarily consists of grass rather than grains. A cow can be fed only grass forage and be labeled as "grass-fed beef", but live in a barn for its entire life and never actually graze on fresh grass.
- Pastured: means that the animal is placed in a section of fresh pasture for some period of time, and then moved onto new grass as often as needed. This method is preferred in regenerative agriculture because it mimics nature as closely as possible since the animals would otherwise be able to roam and find fresh grass on their own. It also prevents the land from being overgrazed where the grass is being eaten all the way down to the root.
- Cage-free: this is the term for birds that are raised without cages. Keep in mind that chickens can be kept indoors in close quarters and still be called cage-free. This is another time where "pastured" would be the better option.
- Free-range: this term is used extremely loosely and really doesn't have much valuable meaning. Poultry can use this label if the chicken had any access to the outdoors each day for some unspecified period of time; it could be just a few minutes and does not assure that the animal ever actually went outdoors to roam freely.
To summarize, "pastured" seems to be the term that is most reliable, but it's still important to know that all of these terms are primarily used for marketing purposes and are loosely regulated. The only way to truly know how your food was grown is to know your farmer. For more terms like "antibiotic-free", "hormone-free", and "natural" check out this helpful guide.
3. Explore this regenerative farm map of the United States...there are more regenerative farms near you than you probably think!
Some notes about using this database…
- You can search for a specific product if you’re looking for say, regeneratively raised eggs only.
- There are 2 ways to search. You can enter your state, zip code, and how far of a radius you want to search for. We found it easier to just zoom in on your city on the map. This will usually turn up more results than searching by zip code. For example, when zooming in on Austin, Texas, there are roughly 4-5 farms within reasonable proximity, but searching by zipcode only found one result.
- This map does not include every single regenerative farm in the U.S. There are many more out there. See tip #4 for how to find even more farmers in your area!
4. Shop at your local farmer’s market. The people at those booths are your neighbors! Have conversations with them about their products and how they’re raised. Likely, if they’re being sold at the Farmer’s Market then they probably follow at least some regenerative protocols, but it never hurts to ask and get to know your farmer. When you meet the one you like, now you know where to find them + their products!
Set aside just 10% of your grocery budget to use for regeneratively raised foods. Increase this amount slowly if you can, but remember that even staying at 10% is better than 0%. Any contribution to the movement is a good contribution because you vote with your dollar!
5. Having trouble finding a farmer or a farmer's market? Consider signing up for a home delivery subscription service! EatWild has put together a lengthy list of farms that ship on a state-by-state basis. This not only gets you fresh and regeneratively raised food delivered to your door, but it also allows you to support a local farmer in your area and reduces the footprint left by shipping/transportation. Be sure to read each farm’s description and do some research to be sure that their practices align with what you personally want to support!
6. Talk the talk. You might be thinking… if regenerative agriculture is as good as we say it is, why isn’t everyone using it? One of the biggest reasons is because people don’t know about it. Regenerative agriculture is just beginning to seep into the mainstream conversation. The more educated advocates there are out there, the faster we can make progress. Talk about regenerative agriculture with your friends + family (it makes a great holiday table topic!). Share information with them about the restaurants or markets you frequent as well as your social media connections. Here are some more educational resources to share:
7. Get your hands dirty! If you don’t have experience farming or working with soil, now is a great time to start! Take up gardening in your own yard/community garden or look into opportunities to volunteer at a local farm. Getting some first-hand experience with the land will give you more context and understanding as you learn about soil health and other regenerative concepts. I can even be as small as an indoor tomato plant...gotta start somewhere!
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