Regenerative Agriculture

A Clear Path Away From Factory Farming Toward Sustainability

Many years ago, I contemplated switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet. After learning the basics of the factory farming system and seeing some of the images, I knew I had to do whatever I could to not support it. I have always cared deeply about animals, so a plant based diet seemed like the most obvious option for me. As I learned more about the effort this would entail, and some of the health implications, I began to look for alternatives. Eventually I learned of “grass-fed beef,” “heritage pork,” and “pastured chicken.” Ultimately what I learned is there are ways we can raise livestock that allow them to have a good life, similar to how they evolved to live.

Humanely raised animals are the solution I landed on, but I came to realize that it is difficult to determine if the meat you purchase in the store has truly been humanely raised. Terms such as “grass-fed,” “free rage,” and “organic,” are not always what they appear. They may have meant something at one time, but the standards have eroded, and now, just because you see “grass fed” or “organic” on your label, does not mean that this animal was not raised in a factory farming-like system. 

Enter Regenerative Agriculture. 

I first learned about this practice of farming when a man named Will Harris of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience in November of 2022.

In this article, I will give a brief overview of what regenerative agriculture is and why it is the best alternative we have to factory farming.

Regenerative agriculture and ranching are not new phenomena. These are practices that have been around since the agricultural revolution. Regenerative is a return to a more natural way of doing things. Working with nature, instead of against it. The conventional, industrial agricultural system does the opposite. It works against nature. It exploits and abuses animals and destroys habitats and resources. Furthermore, it is run by giant multinational corporations whose sole purpose is to make profit and provide value to shareholders.

Regenerative agriculture is a sustainable, holistic approach to farming that recognizes the interconnectedness of ecosystems and treats all the parts as one - soil, water, air, plants, animals and the people who manage them.

In practice, it is a combination of sustainable farming techniques that focus on improving and maintaining soil health. Some common regenerative practices include:

•  Rotational Grazing - moving livestock such as cattle and other pastured animals (sheep, goats, turkeys, bison, pigs) between pastures (on a given plot of land) on a regular basis to allow grasses to regrow and improve soil health.

• No Till Farming - leaving soil intact when planting crops rather than disturbing it through plowing.

• Decreasing and in some cases eliminating the use of fertilizers, chemicals and pesticides.

• Cover Cropping - the practice of planting crops after a cash crop has been grown and harvested. Keeping living roots in the soil reduces erosion, increases water retention, and improves soil health. Cover crops can also be planted in between rows of permanent crops.

• Composting - the process of turning waste from manure or food into fertilizer.

Together these practices combine to make a farm that is more resilient. After they have been put into place, soil is healthier and holds water better, preventing topsoil erosion and chemical runoff into water systems. As you can see in this video of White Oak Pastures and a neighboring conventional farm after a heavy rain:

The key benefits of regenerative agriculture according to the Savory Institute are as follows:

• Restores soil microbial diversity

• Makes land more resilient to flooding and drought

• Increases nutrient density of livestock and plants

• Grasses trap atmospheric carbon dioxide

• Reduces water use by avoiding the need to irrigate cropland

• Reduces fertilizer runoff polluting waterways

• Reduces the concentration of manure from confined feeding operations

• Reduces pesticide use on conventional cropland

Alternatives to Regenerative Agriculture

Besides regenerative agriculture, there are two candidates contending to disrupt factory farming and feedlot operations.

1. Plant Based Meat

2. Lab Grown Meat (cultured meat)

Plant based meat claims to be better for the environment, our health, and animal rights. It’s hard to argue with the last claim, but the first two I take issue with. To say it is healthy is a stretch at best. It is essentially ultra-processed junk food. As an example, see the ingredient list of the Beyond Burger - (Water, pea protein*, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil, rice protein, natural flavors, dried yeast, cocoa butter, methylcellulose, and less than 1% of potato starch, salt, potassium chloride, beet juice color, apple extract, pomegranate concentrate, sunflower lecithin, vinegar, lemon juice concentrate, vitamins and minerals (zinc sulfate, niacinamide [vitamin B3], pyridoxine hydrochloride [vitamin B6], cyanocobalamin [vitamin B12], calcium pantothenate).

The claim that it is better for the environment may be true when compared to the impact of massive feedlot operations. Not so in comparison to regenerative operations such as White Oak Pastures (WOP).

In 2017 WOP participated in a Lifecycle Assessment study designed to look at factors such as soil health and carbon sequestration. What they found is that WOP sequestered roughly 3.5 pounds of carbon in their soil for every pound of beef they sold. The firm that conducted this study had previously been hired by Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat to look at their impact, and ironically found that both corporations Emitted approximately 3.5 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent for every pound of plant based meat consumed (Source).

At its core, plant based meat is simply monoculture factory farming of soy and peas which seeks to provide profits to huge corporations in similar fashion to that of conventional agriculture. So far it has failed to do this as well. 

Lab grown meat (cultured meat) is the other option that Wall Street and Silicon Valley have created. It is made through the process of culturing animal-sourced muscle and fat cells in vitro. Over the last several years, dozens of start ups have launched claiming that by the end of the decade their products will be available in grocery stores everywhere. Similar to plant based meat, these companies tout the environmental and animal rights benefits of their products. However, chemical engineer David Humbird, who has done extensive research on cell-cultured meat, told The Counter that it was

hard to find an angle that wasn’t a ludicrous dead end.

Humbird likened the process of researching the report to encountering an impenetrable ‘Wall of No’—his term for the barriers in thermodynamics, cell metabolism, bioreactor design, ingredient costs, facility construction, and other factors that will need to be overcome before cultivated protein can be produced cheaply enough to displace traditional meat.

It seems that if this industry is ever going to pan out, it is much further out than these companies are letting on to. I personally would prefer to see long term health data before I would consider eating cultured “meat.”

Don’t get me wrong, I think it is a noble, albeit naive goal to not want any animals to die for human meat consumption; if that truly is the goal of these two nascent industries, which I have my doubts about. Unfortunately, in reality, there can be no life without death. Humans are not an exception to this law. With that, and all the shortcomings of plant and laboratory meat, which I have just briefly touched on, it is clear that regenerative agriculture is the better path forward. 

What You Can Do About It

Find a regenerative farm near you.

After learning about regenerative agriculture, my wife and I changed where we get our meat from. We were already buying local, grass-fed, humanely raised, etc., but as I mentioned, this can be a difficult, misleading game to play. I was able to find a regenerative farm that delivers to nearby us weekly. For anyone that lives in Wisconsin, it’s called Grassway Organics. They are located in East Troy, but they have fourteen different pickup locations in southern and eastern Wisconsin.

If you cannot find a regenerative farm, you can buy meat from the store that says the name of the farm on the label. By now, most stores have one or two options of decent local farms. This way you can at least look into the standards of said farm. You can also find a butcher that sources meat from regenerative or certified organic,

grass-fed farms. One example of this in my city is The Conscious Carnivore.

The industrial farming system is a huge tangled mess with many negative consequences. It is going to be incredibly difficult to unravel and the only realistic way to do so is through regenerative agriculture. Consumers need to demand that their produce and animal products come from regenerative farms and more farmers will switch. It will be better for the land, better for the animals, and better for people.