Reasons Why a Registered Dietitian Supports Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative agriculture focuses on farming and grazing techniques that help to restore soil biodiversity, rehabilitating and conserving our food and farming systems.

Before I jump into regenerative agriculture, let’s first discuss industrial agriculture.

What is Industrial Agriculture?

Industrial agriculture is the large-scale production of crops and livestock that commonly uses chemical fertilizers on crops, and antibiotics in animals. This way of agriculture has been shown to deplete the soil of nutrition and, to bluntly put it, mistreat farm animals.

What is Regenerative Agriculture?

Regenerative agriculture focuses on working with nature to heal the soil, the lives of animals, and replenish the microbiome found within soil. By doing so, this ultimately helps to produce more nutrient dense foods.

How Does Regenerative Agriculture Work?

This type of agriculture uses livestock to stimulate the growth of organic matter within the soil, improving carbon drawdown and reversing desertification. By allowing animals to live as nature intended, their waste becomes natural fertilizer, increasing soil biodiversity.

Practices include:

• no-till to minimum tillage of the soil
• composting food waste as a source of fertilizer
• animal manure as a source of fertilizer
• crop rotation
• livestock grazing practices

A Registered Dietitian’s Perspective

As a registered dietitian, there are multiple reasonings behind why I support this agriculture system. Regenerative agriculture works with nature to benefit the health of our soils, livestock, and the human consumer.

When you purchase grass-finished meats, you are investing in a product that is more nutrient dense than a factory farmed product. Research has shown a higher concentration of omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants found within grass-finished meats when compared to factory farmed meats.

However, grass-finished meats do tend to cost more as a result of profit margin as care, labor, and production costs tend to be higher compared to industrial farming. When spending money on grass-finished meats, you are voting with your wallet to support a system that promotes positive outcomes for all involved. From the farm to the consumer.

How Can You Support Regenerative Agriculture?

Seek out and purchase from local farmers that practice regenerative agriculture. Or purchase from brands such as Force of Nature and Pasture Bird who practice these techniques. Land to Market is another great resource to find regenerative brands. Growing your own garden, composting, and limiting your food waste are other ways you can support this system.

Here is a small list of great resources if you are interested in learning more:

• Kiss the Ground a documentary that can be found on Netflix.
• Sustainable Dish a blog ran by Diana Rodgers, a registered dietitian and advocate for regenerative farming.
• Regeneration International a nonprofit that focuses on regenerative food and farming.
• Farmer’s Footprint is a documentary series that focuses on inspiring and accelerating the movement toward regenerative food systems as a means to restore human and planetary health.

The last question I will leave you with is, what system will you support?

Source

Chatham, Meg. “What Is Regenerative Agriculture?” Sacred Cow, Sacred Cow, 7 Sept. 2022, https://www.sacredcow.info/blog/what-is-regenerative-agriculture.