We’ve always been Regenerative Pioneers at Natural Grocers!

Our product standards for dairy, eggs, meat, and produce support soil health, biodiversity, cleaner water, humane treatment of animals, and farmer welfare.

Do you care about the impact your food choices have on animal welfare, human health, and the planet?

Read on to learn more about the importance and benefits of regenerative agriculture.

1. According to Rodale Institute, “Even small changes in soil carbon can lead to large changes in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide,” for better or worse. And that makes agriculture a key player in producing soil that functions either as a net source of emissions or a net sink! If all crops and pastureland globally were transitioned to regenerative agriculture, it has the potential, (as a thought experiment), to draw down more than 100% of current anthropogenic CO2 emissions, storing atmospheric carbon in the soil, Rodale suggests.
2. According to Project Drawdown, a global organization researching and advancing climate solutions, an estimated 8% of carbon in the upper layers of the earth’s soils has escaped into the atmosphere over the past several centuries. The organization believes regenerative agriculture is how we can start “bringing that carbon back home,” making it “one of the greatest opportunities” to positively impact the health of humans, the planet, and farmers’ financial wellbeing.
3. Project Drawdown predicts that if regenerative annual cropping was expanded by 47% (high-end) globally by 2050, it could deliver significant benefits. It could result in 23.21 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent reductions and provide a lifetime net operational savings of 3.52 trillion U.S. dollars.
4. Choose food whose production enhances biodiversity, which “is the primary driver of soil carbon sequestration!” (Rodale). All genuinely regenerative farming systems support biodiversity above and below ground, building soil organic matter that stores atmospheric carbon. Cultivating biodiversity and increasing organic matter also improves water infiltration and retention, filters pollutants, and reduces erosion, among its many benefits.
5. Some say regenerative agriculture isn’t a “silver bullet” for climate change. We say—who looks for a silver bullet to solve a complex problem? Regenerative agriculture restores degraded soil— reducing erosion and building topsoil. It enhances biodiversity and protects water quality while decreasing agricultural emissions and pollution. It treats animals humanely, promotes farm communities’ wellbeing, improves the nutrient density and climate resilience of crops, and honors the environmental wisdom indigenous cultures have practiced for centuries. It isn’t magic. It’s an ecologically sound, systems-based approach, and its proof is in its outcomes.
6. Some say to eat less meat to save the planet. We say pastureland and rangeland need grazing animals to thrive. They aerate the soil with their hooves and fertilize it with their waste, stimulating plant growth, promoting biodiversity, and increasing soil carbon sequestration, as they did for centuries before we confined them to feedlots and crowded barns. With proper grazing management, cattle and other ruminant livestock can “more than offset their greenhouse gas emissions” through increased soil carbon sequestration, and research has shown reduced methane emissions from cattle in regenerative systems.
7. Some say organic and regenerative agriculture can’t feed the world. We say the research tells a different story. Well-designed regenerative organic systems have been shown to outcompete conventional yields for almost all food crops when actual yields were considered instead of agglomerated averages. Rodale Institute’s Farming Systems Trial has shown no statistical difference in organic and conventional yields over a 40-year period, but organic yields were 30% to 100% higher than conventional during drought years. Building climate-resilient soil is critical for stabilizing our food supply as extreme weather increases.” We say—eat for the soil!
8. Regenerative agriculture doesn’t incorporate one or two regenerative practices into an anti-regenerative system and call it a day. It’s critical to understand that regenerative systems are rooted in interdependent practices, adapted to each farm’s context, that build soil organic matter, restore biodiversity, increase carbon drawdown, improve water retention, climate resilience, and so much more.

Read Our Earth Watch Articles to Learn More About Regenerative Agriculture

Product Swaps

Be a regenerative pioneer with your food choices!

Organic India^®

Tea needs no introduction—the whole world loves it, to the tune of 5 billion cups a day! Unfortunately, much of it is grown in large-scale monocultures, which are heavily reliant on pesticides and fertilizers and destructive to biodiversity. Meanwhile, the biggest players control the tea trade’s profits to the disadvantage of small farmers and workers. Is this a plea to stop drinking tea? Quite the opposite. It’s an invitation to choose a brew that cultivates biodiversity, refuses harmful chemicals, and treats farmers and workers fairly! Organic India Tulsi Teas are produced through partnerships with farmers using regenerative practices, and are Certified Organic, “directly and fairly traded,” and contained in plastic-free tea bags. Sip on the brew that cares about its environmental and human impact, too!

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Lundberg Family Farms^®

Rice is one of the world’s top five food crops. And that means, just by sheer volume—it has a substantial environmental footprint! Choose rice grown to “Leave the land better than you found it,” which has been Lundberg Family Farms guiding principle since 1937. Lundberg grows Regenerative Organic Certified^® Rice in fields replicating California’s natural wetlands, providing habitat for over 200 species. Their soil health practices generate an estimated 100,000 pounds of organic matter per acre, which is critical for soil integrity and carbon sequestration. And their water management techniques enable them to grow rice without herbicides while supporting endangered salmon populations. With Lundberg, rice is always nice!

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Charcutnuvo

Iowa, the top pork-producing state, has 99 counties, with at least one concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in each of them. And the state’s hogs generate as much waste as 120+ million people every day! Meanwhile, over a third of all U.S. beef cattle are finished in barren feedlots with minimum capacities of 50,000 head. Large quantities of animals raised in crowded confinement create colossal animal welfare, environmental, and community health issues. Challenge animal agriculture’s destructive norms with the deliciousness of Charcutnuvo’s Regenerative Organic Certified^® Beef Sausage collection! It’s crafted in-house, with 100% grass-fed and finished beef raised on regenerative farms, and without added sugars. And it’s not just your ethics that will bring you back for more—your taste buds will, too!

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Alec’s^® Ice Cream

There are over 270 million dairy cows in the world. Many are housed in overcrowded, industrialized operations, which creates unhappy conditions for the animals and significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and air and water pollution, especially from manure mismanagement. Use your sweet tooth to disrupt the harmful status quo of modern livestock production with Alec’s—the “first-ever regenerative organic A2 dairy ice cream!” The base of this creamy, dreamy goodness is made with 98% verified or Certified Regenerative ingredients, including dairy from Certified Humane, pasture-based cows, and it’s Certified Organic and gluten free. Grab a scoop of Alec’s—it’s a delicious way to promote dairy that helps, not harms.

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Alexandre Family Farms^TM

California’s mega-dairies stink! The number one dairy-producing state in the country housed 1.7 million cows in large-scale dairies in 2022, which generate over 68 billion pounds of manure annually. The excess waste is often spread, untreated, on farmand, and too much can create soil and water-polluting runoff. But this isn’t to say ditch dairy—use it to make a positive impact instead! “America’s First Certified Regenerative Dairy,” Alexandre Family Farms, doesn’t have a surplus manure problem because its cows aren’t confined to crowded barns. They graze on pasture, fertilizing the soil and improving carbon sequestration while they’re at it. Alexandre’s land also provides a habitat for bald eagles, Roosevelt elk, and hundreds of other wildlife species. Ditch dairy that stinks for the kind that supports animal welfare, biodiversity, cleaner water, and climate solutions!

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If You Care^®

Is your kitchen baking drawer hiding unsustainable secrets? Aluminum foil and parchment paper are indispensable for most of us, but what are their downstream consequences? Making foil from virgin aluminum incurs high energy costs and negative environmental impacts in the tropical and sub-tropical regions where bauxite (its main component) is mined. Meanwhile, paper products, like parchment paper, are often bleached with chlorine dioxide. After bleaching, chlorine can be deposited in nearby waterways, transforming into highly toxic chemicals called dioxins, hazardous to human health and wildlife. If You Care^® proves we can do better. This brand’s 100% Recycled Aluminum Foil is produced with just 5% of the energy required for non-recycled foil. Its Parchment Baking Paper is unbleached, Forest Stewardship Council^® Certified, and compostable. Do you care about what’s in your kitchen drawer?

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