How Might We Better Support Farmers in their Transition to Regenerative Agriculture?
- S1E18
- 1:28:41
- March 14th 2023
There’s enormous potential for agriculture to help reverse climate change through its potential to sequester carbon from the atmosphere. But are we asking farmers too much? Already laden with debt and the pressure to produce more with less, how might we support already cash-strapped and stressed farmers in their transition to regenerative agriculture? Should it be their responsibility alone?
In this episode, we continue our exploration of regenerative agriculture, its potential, and its challenges with Benedikt Bösel, Germany’s first regen ag Farmer of the Year and owner of Gut&Bösel; Jennifer O’Connor, Executive Director of Funders for Regenerative Agriculture; Felipe Villela, founder of reNature; and Kelsey Scott, Director of Programs at the Intertribal Agriculture Council and owner of DX Beef.
We discuss:
- What needs to change to support farmers throughout the transition to farming regeneratively
- Who should bear responsibility for driving this transition? Farmers, corporates, governments?
- What regenerative producers actually need from corporates, governments, and investors
- The language of regeneration and how to have productive conversations with producers
- What collaboration models and other resources exist or should exist to help them
- Funding sources for farmers, where they can access it, and the challenges involved
- The mindset shift needed among corporations and policymakers to help producers manage their lands regeneratively and profitably
- Indigenous producers and the generational damage that is being done on existing farms
Show Notes:
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Thank you to Foodshot Global & New Hope Network for sponsoring the series.
And a huge thank you to everyone who helped us bring this podcast to life:
Production: Cam Gray, Cofruition
Audio Editing: Tevin Sudi
Original Music: Rodrigo Barbera
Art: Lola Nankin
Project Management: Patrick Carter
New Food Order
New Food Order is a podcast exploring the business of tackling our climate and social crises through food and agriculture from AgFunder and Food+Tech Connect.
Through nuanced conversation and debate, its hosts Danielle Gould and Louisa Burwood-Taylor are embarking on a learning and unlearning journey to unearth how we might design business and finance to have maximum positive impact for people and our planet.
Join us as we speak with leading farmers, entrepreneurs, executives, investors, and other stewards on key topics like:
- Will plant-based, lab-grown meat, and regenerative agriculture save the world?
- Is carbon neutral enough?
- What are the most people and planet friendly business and finance models?
- How might we best honor and learn from indigenous communities?
- What are the unintended consequences of new innovation, and how might we avoid them?
Danielle Gould is an entrepreneur and activist. She is the Founder and CEO of Food Tech Connect, the first community for food innovation as well as the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Alpha Food Labs, a consultancy where she works with some of the world’s largest companies to create products and innovation strategies that are better for people and our planet. She hopes that ultimately, her work helps unite and catalyze a movement of earth guardians.
A journalist and editor, Louisa is the head of media & research for AgFunder and chief editor of its news site AFN, focused on the foodtech and agtech industry. With 10 years of agriculture reporting behind her, Louisa started her career in other financial markets working for publications like the Financial Times, Euromoney and Private Equity International, where she launched the first-ever publication dedicated to agriculture investment.