More consumers are demanding regeneratively grown foods, and farmers want to supply them. But scaling regenerative agricultural practices requires more than good intentions—farmers need support to de-risk the transition to a different way of farming.
Food Tank, in partnership with Arva and Kiss the Ground, hosted the “Regenerative Food Systems: Scaling Impact from Soil to Shelf” summit during Climate Week NYC 2025 to explore how regenerative practices can transform our food system, as well as the barriers to making this transformation a reality.
We’re optimized in our systems to produce cheap calories. Now, [regenerative agriculture is] showing a different pathway,” says Jay McEntire, CEO of Arva. “We need to empower the farmers. We need to think about how we do this at scale to give farmers options to become suppliers of environmental benefits and healthier foods.”
Panelists agreed that it is important to break down silos and not get caught up in labels around regenerative agriculture. Instead, they should focus on continuously evolving toward a better way of farming.
“When I look back on how Certified Organic looked in 1983 to today, it’s become night and day,” says Matthew Dillon, Co-Chief Executive Officer at the Organic Trade Association. “You have generational changes, and it’s good to challenge.”
Numerous sustainability certifications exist across the food, forestry, and textile industries. While new certifications like Regenerative Organic Certified could be seen as opposing Certified Organic, Dillon sees the two working together to uplift the entire food system.
“It’s all hands on deck for our planet…a little competition is good,” says Dillon. “It’s one part collaboration and one part competition. Organic will be stronger because of the regenerative movement.”
Clara Coleman, a second-generation Organic farmer in Maine and Founder at Real Farmer Care, says that labels and certifications are important, but they must center on farmers.
“I’ve seen almost every term come and go…and I’m glad we somewhat agree on the term ‘regenerative.’ But while all these practices are so incredibly important, if we don’t take care of the farmer first, nobody’s going to be around to do that,” says Coleman.
Farmers need technical assistance, financial assistance, and markets to help offset the short-term risks and upfront costs of transitioning to more regenerative practices. Supporting farmers also means ensuring that projects and innovations aiming to scale regenerative agriculture are developed alongside them.
“The innovations have to be embedded in the challenges of the community, at which point they don’t need to be high-tech…but they will be durable,” says Evan Fraser, Director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph.
Steven Jennings of Ahold Delhaize USA, a family of food brands, says that food companies should rely on partnerships to help implement regenerative agriculture goals on the ground.
“It’s got to start in the soil. However, we don’t grow anything. We need to stay in our lane and not be something that we’re not,” says Jennings. “When we collaborate together, that’s when we bring real-world solutions to life. At the end of the day, we all have similar or the same goals.”
Simply shifting the messaging around regenerative agriculture and climate change can accomplish a lot. Panelists agreed that messages are more effective when they connect with eaters on an emotional level, rather than focusing on data and statistics around global warming, soil health, or carbon sequestration.
“Nobody knows what two degrees [Celsius] means. As a kid from Chicago, warming two degrees sounds great to me,” says Sam Kass, Partner at Acre Venture Partners. “The words ‘climate change’ are meaningless. But when you start understanding that coffee, wine, and chocolate are devastated now and [might no longer exist]…it connects with people’s lives and gives them a reason to care. It’s not political.”
Stories from the ground—especially stories of hope and success around regenerative agriculture—can help support farmers working to cultivate soil health and grow nutritious foods, while also empowering those across the food value chain who can support them.
“Coming from a space of happiness and inspiration is how we solve big problems,” says Evan Harrison, CEO of Kiss the Ground. “Farmers are the rockstars of what we do at Kiss the Ground, and we amplify their stories every day to inspire people to think about where their food comes from.”
Watch the full livestreamed event on Food Tank’s YouTube channel.
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Photo by Ryan Rose for Food Tank.
