Put simply, regenerative agriculture is a term that describes farming principles and practices that can reverse the damage done to the environment by the industrial food system. The principles of regenerative agriculture take in everything from soil health and the carbon cycleto biodiversity, land management, animal welfare and more, and draw from decades of scientific and applied research by the global communities of organic farming, agroecology, holistic management and agroforestry.

Food-producing farms that practice regenerative principles can help reduce the effects of humans on the environment by rebuilding soil and improving soil health, restoring biodiversity, improving the water cycle and enhancing local ecosystems through added complexity and greater natural resilience.

A monocultural, industrial farming of any type system steadily reduces soil health, resulting in a cycle of increasing reliance on artificial fertilisers that are often derived from fossil fuels. Healthy soil that’s supported naturally by grazing animals, however, actually has a positive effect. From meat and dairy farms to those producing vegetables and grains, the processes involved in regenerative agriculture can help capture huge amounts of carbon and above-ground biomass, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reversing current global trends of atmospheric accumulation.

Any food that’s produced cheaply has a cost higher up the food chain, but regenerative agriculture offers benefits to farmers including increased yields, resilience to climate instability, and higher health and vitality for farmers, and helps reverse the negative effects of the industrial food system on farming communities.

Within a regenerative system animals are eating a species appropriate diet and are encouraged to interact with the environment in a way that is natural to them. This means for example pigs will be rooting and turning over soil, poultry will be scratching at the land and cattle selectively grazing in a natural environment that enriches their experience compared to industrial farming.

Regenuary is an inclusive campaign meant for consumers across a range of diets. While Regenuary aims to clarify misleading conceptions around meat production and its effect on the environment, you can still take part as a pescatarian, vegetarian or vegan using the same principles of buying from regenerative producers and getting involved in discussions around food and agriculture.

Regenuary began in 2019 as a response to Veganuary. We were frustrated with the misleading messaging around veganism - its effect on the environment, and its co-opting by supermarkets and multinational corporations. We began Regenuary as a campaign on social media, whose impressions quickly grew into the millions. Today, Regenuary is an annual, national and international campaign enjoying participation from millions of consumers and industry advocates.

We'll capture the expert opinions and answer some of the burning questions around how scalable the future of food production using  regenerative farming practices really is. We’ll deep dive into what the hospitality and retail sectors are doing to meet the environmental pressures, and demands of ‘conscious consumers’.

As always we will be looking at how food service can reduce impact from the obvious markers of simple ingredient sourcing through to waste and packaging reduction and even energy consumption.