What Regenerative Agriculture Can Learn from the Organic Movement

Regenerative agriculture (RA) has gained attention as a new approach to farming that aims to go beyond sustainability. Despite the growing interest, there is no widely accepted definition for RA and that increases the risk for co-optation, hampers promotion and public action, and undermines incentivizing programs for adoption. For RA to realize its promise, it will need to merge with the corporate industrial agrifood system, and it can draw on lessons from the Organic Agriculture (OA) movement to do so.

With OA, the corporate system has easily integrated the foundational pillar of growing food without chemicals but abandoned pillars including alternative food distribution and a focus on whole foods and unprocessed ingredients. The lessons from OA suggest that the RA interpretations most easily integrated with the corporate industrial system will likely shape the future of RA, giving it a chance to influence agricultural change.

RA has gained significant attention and growth in the last decade, reflecting society's realization of the planet's precarious state. It offers hope for tackling environmental crises and fostering harmony with nature. However, its ability to solve problems on a large scale depends on its integration with capitalism which could mean compromising its principles, as seen with OA. RA may either be stripped of its transformational qualities or transform society's relationship with nature, depending on whether it holds to its principles or makes compromises to remain relevant.