Regenerative Agriculture for a Brave New World

Out of a total of 15.5 million new cars sold in the United States in 2023, over 1.2 million were electric vehicles (EVs). The rise of EVs in recent years has been impressive, with many consumers citing environmental concerns and a desire to reduce emissions as their main reasons for making this choice. While this movement may have positive impacts, along with a host of other efforts consumers are making to reduce their environmental impact through purchasing decisions, there is an often overlooked aspect to addressing our climate crisis—one that also supports coffee farmers: regenerative organic certified (ROC) coffee.

WHAT IS REGENERATIVE ORGANIC FARMING, AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Regenerative organic farming serves as a powerful tool in mitigating climate change through the enhancement of soil organic matter and the restoration of biodiversity. This holistic approach to farming encourages continuous innovation and improvements of environmental, social and economic measures. The central focus of regenerative organic agriculture is soil health, with methodologies that play crucial roles in sustainable practices, including cover crops to slow erosion and enhance water availability, composting to reduce the need for pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, and no-till farming techniques for growing crops or pasture without disturbing the soil.

Regenerative agriculture is not a new concept, as it has been associated with terms such as “permaculture” and “agroecology” since the 1960s-era organic farming movement, popularized by the Rodale Institute (founded in Pennsylvania in 1947 by J.I. Rodale, who is credited with coining the term “organic”). Recent attention has highlighted regenerative agriculture’s effectiveness in not just mitigating but reversing climate change. The Rodale institute’s 2020 white paper, titled “Regenerative Agriculture and the Soil Carbon Solution” (available at rodaleinstitute.org) asserts that “global adoption of regenerative practices across both grasslands and arable acreage could sequester more than 100 percent of current anthropogenic emissions of CO2.”

I have been known to say that purchasing an electric vehicle in the spirit of “doing your part” to help the environment is an empty gesture that is more about vanity than it is about a real commitment to combating the climate crisis. While choosing to buy an EV certainly has a positive impact on the environment, I would argue that this impact pales in comparison to that of agriculture—or, more specifically, implementing sustainable agricultural practices and food systems.

In fact, while much of the dialog about sustainability from a consumer perspective focuses on our transportation choices, it may surprise you to learn that agriculture contributes almost five times the amount of greenhouse gas emissions as transportation. In this regard, we can look at agriculture as both the villain and potential savior.

Dr. Rattan Lal, professor of soil science at Ohio State University, has calculated that farmland soils have emitted a staggering 476 billion tons of carbon over the past 150 years due to various agricultural activities. These activities include deforestation, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion acceleration, declines in soil organic matter, and soil salination. If you look at the entire food system (agriculture processing and food waste), the total greenhouse gas emissions jump to over 34 percent, or almost seven times that of transportation.

According to the article “Regenerative agriculture: Key to solving the climate crisis” by Hunter Lovins, published on climateandcapitalmedia.com, improved soil management practices hold the key to sequestering 178 billion tons of atmospheric carbon by 2100 and potentially reducing atmospheric carbon concentrations by 157 parts per million (ppm). This significant reduction could effectively reverse climate change and enhance various aspects of agriculture, including increasing water holding capacity, combating drought and extending growing seasons.

THE BIRTH OF A SUPER SEAL

In 2018, the Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA) was founded by the Rodale Institute, Dr. Bronner’s, and Patagonia to promote regenerative farming as the gold standard for agriculture. It was designed to “heal a broken system, repair a damaged planet and empower farmers to create a better future,” according to the organization’s website.

In 2020, a group of ROA farmers, business leaders, and soil health experts created “regenerative organic certified” (ROC), with soil health, animal welfare and social fairness as its three pillars. Farmers who participate in the ROC program must first be certified organic (soil health), certified fair trade or a fair trade equivalent (social fairness), and demonstrate regenerative farming practices through a farm management plan to show positive carbon capture. Certifying an agricultural operation as ROC involves a one-time application fee, which varies from $350 for less than five parcels to $550 for five parcels or more, or $1,000 for grower groups or co-ops managed by an internal control system (ICS). Additional ROA fees range from $250 to $500 per year depending on crop value, and certification body fees vary based on factors such as operation size and location.

In 2021, coffee farmers in Nicaragua were the first to market with an ROC certified coffee, opening a new category for ROC products. Soon, farmers in Honduras, Colombia and Guatemala followed suit, selling to coffee roasters in the United States who saw opportunities with national retailers like Erewhon Foods, Patagonia Provisions and Amazon/Whole Foods.

BENEFITS OF REGENERATIVE ORGANIC CERTIFICATION

While critics may be quick to point out that ROC is yet another layer of added bureaucracy being pushed on already burdened producers, it’s important to note that this program has numerous benefits that can dramatically increase the income of producers, cut farming costs, and allow farmers to diversify their income potential.

Increases in organic soil matter improve the biodiversity of beneficial microorganisms that provide nutrients for plants, increase nitrogen, and control soil-born plant diseases. Regeneration International—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 2017 to support a global transition to regenerative food, farming and land management—reported in its “Trials of Regeneration” video series that, “The decomposition of plant and animal residues into organic soil matter can provide all the nutrients needed by plants and negate the need for costly synthetic chemical fertilizers, especially nitrogen fertilizers that are responsible for numerous environmental problems.”

Water use is optimized because the carbon-rich soil better holds moisture. Improved farm worker safety through an elimination of handling agrochemicals and investment in local businesses (through purchases of additional crops/livestock and equipment) better sustains stressed farming communities. Because more people may be needed to do work that chemicals previously did, regenerative farming creates jobs. Because regenerative agriculture relies heavily on biodiversity at the farm level, opportunities to sell multiple agriculture products as well as increase food security for the farmer are possible. Finally, with the dramatic capture of carbon, ROC farmers can sell carbon credits into carbon markets (which currently trade at an average of $30 per metric ton), which would allow producers to diversify their income in ways that have never been seen before as regenerative practices can sequester 30 to 40 tons of carbon per hectare, offering additional income potential between $900 to $1,200 per hectare annually.

THE CARBON SEQUESTERING POTENTIAL OF REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

In his article on regenerative agriculture, Lovins outlines various studies that have shown how regenerative agricultural practices can significantly increase carbon sequestration. For example, in Zambia, incorporating mobile pig cages led to a fivefold increase in soil organic matter, resulting in significant carbon sequestration. A fungal-dominated compost, developed by the Institute for Sustainable Agricultural Research at New Mexico State University, has been shown to increase soil carbon capture by 25 times, leading to improved crop yields without the need for chemical inputs.

Globally, soils have the potential to sequester up to 3.4 gigatons of carbon (GtC) per year, enough to offset human-emitted carbon emissions. When combined with other initiatives like reforestation, the annual carbon capture in soils and forests could reach 5 GtC, leading to a significant reduction in atmospheric CO2 levels.

EARLY ADOPTERS IN SPECIALTY COFFEE

Kurt Hans of Colorado-based Ampersand Coffee was one of the earliest supporters of ROC farmers. He stumbled upon this movement early on when he read a book by one of the Regenerative Organic Alliance founders, Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard. Hans recalls, “I learned about regenerative organic certification from Yvon Chouinard’s book Let My People Go Surfing. The benefits to producing within the ROA framework are more than a certification. They are a guiding light to an array of proven best practices for producers [and] their communities, consumers, and the planet. It is a genius holistic approach that intertwines social, animal and soil welfare in a continuous improvement model. As a coffee roaster, I am particularly intrigued by the focus on soil welfare and how that is an elegant solution to global warming.”

Ampersand has been working with ROC coffee certification for more than three years. “On a recent trip to Peru to visit an Ampersand-sponsored ROC coffee farm,” Hans continues, “I had the chance to discuss the certification directly with the producers. I was elated to learn that the producers have embraced this certification and see it themselves as the most valuable certification available. After a lot of hard work, they are proud of the certification. They believe in the benefits to their communities and the planet.”

For Casey Wojtalewicz of Canyon Coffee, a Los Angeles-based specialty coffee roaster specializing in organic and ROC coffees, early support of ROC agriculture came naturally. “Growing up in the farmlands of west Minnesota, I saw firsthand the impact of modern, conventional agriculture on the land,” he says. “At the same time, you learn how difficult and uncertain farming is as a livelihood. To farm is to be humbled, period. But that’s most true for the folks who set out to be organic farmers. The system, with its subsidies, is not built for them. They do it out of commitment to future generations, to the land, and ultimately to the planet. At the end of the day, it all goes back to the soil. Farmers who take the leap to be organic know this.”

While Canyon Coffee has always supported organic farmers, Wojtalewitz says that ROC takes this movement a step further. “As much as that was important to me, I knew that organic certification alone didn’t promise everything,” he says. “It didn’t consider soil health. It didn’t consider economic viability for farmers. It basically says what you can and can’t put on your crops. … So, you have giant monoculture farms that are organic. It’s important, but it’s not a complete picture. When I learned about the regenerative organic certification, in contrast, I felt it was truly comprehensive. It considers the points I mentioned, and ultimately it leads us on a path where agriculture—which is accountable for so much of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions—can turn a corner and sequester carbon.”

SUPPORTING REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE: A CALL TO ACTION

There is widespread support for regenerative agriculture as a solution to the climate crisis. A 2020 McKinsey survey reported that a majority of U.S. voters believe in providing funding to help farmers adopt sustainable practices. Coffee companies looking for a comprehensive sustainability standard may find ROC to be the answer they’ve been seeking. The coffee industry is uniquely positioned to play a key role in this growing movement, as most coffee is grown by smallholder farmers, and coffee itself relies on a rich biodiverse environment to thrive. Coffee is one of the products that can, with a few changes in growing practices, be farmed regeneratively, reaching carbon-neutral to carbon-negative status in a very short period. Producers engaging in these practices have the opportunity to transform their farms into diverse business models, allowing for new sources of income that have traditionally been unavailable to them.

Wojtalewicz says, “As a roaster, holding up our share of the work here is informing our customers about the certification, and getting folks to the point where, when they see the ROC logo, they know what it means. They know that purchasing that product is actually contributing towards work that is drawing down carbon from the atmosphere, while ensuring longevity for the farmers and others along the supply chain.”

Supporting ROC coffees and raising awareness of these products in the marketplace can have a positive impact on farmers, communities and the environment. By choosing ROC products, consumers can help increase farmers’ income potential, strengthen rural communities, and play a crucial role in combating climate change. In a world where every small choice matters, supporting regenerative agriculture is a significant step toward building a sustainable future for generations to come.

This article appeared in the July/August 2024 article of Roast Magazine.