Speciality-Food-Magazine-March-2025

40 @specialityfood R egenerative agriculture was thrust into the public psyche last year as 5.1 million viewers watched Jeremy Clarkson take on the regenmantle in season three of Clarkson’s Farm . Working in partnership withWildfarmed’s Andy Cato, the beleaguered presenter, who’d in the series lost piglets and entered the minefield that is mushroomharvesting, discovered an exciting newway to grow food. Along the way, the word ‘regenerative’ pricked the ears of the food community and consumers. But what does it reallymean? fields and weather allowus to do. Every field is different, and every challenge is different.” Barnes Edwards, director of The Garlic Farm, which has been organic for some time but has inmore recent years adopted a regenerative approach, says the term, for him, means “to leave the land in better health than you found it”. The word ‘sustainable’, Barnes continues, is “not good enough”. “It’s out of date. Sustainability just sustains the status quo. We are aiming for restoration, and active rejuvenation, and regenerative farming has a number of practices which, when applied in harmony, can really help with that, and deliver it.” Though there is some pushback fromorganic farmers over regenerative agriculture and its definition, Barnes believes there should bemore collaboration between the twomovements. “They are very closely entwined. What we do is we farmorganically as a baseline, and we employ, and encourage, and are BARNES EDWARDS THE GARLIC FARM LEONA MCDONALD GOLDEN HOOVES NIELS CORFIELD REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE CONSULTANT COMMENTATORS MARTIN LINES NFFN IS REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE THE FUTURE OF FARMING IN BRITAIN? Proponents of regenerative farming say it’s the only way forward for the industry, while others claim the word ‘regenerative’ is being used indiscriminately and should be regulated. Speciality Food reports... ‘HEALTHY FARMING LEADS TO HEALTHIER DIETS’ WHAT DOES REGENERATIVE MEAN TO YOU, ANDWHAT DOES ‘GOOD’ LOOK LIKE IN FARMING? I think the difficulty with the term regenerative is it sounds great, but it’s been captured by a style of farming which can rely on a huge amount of weedkillers like glyphosates. Here, we tend to say we have an agroecological approach. We want to be doing a whole range of things to produce food, but that has to be high- quality, nutritious food. And we have to support biodiversity and nature. Our point of view is food has to move away from fields producing low-quality, high-impact food, to a much more sustainable use of the land. It’s about wildlife and sequestering carbon, and people, and wellbeing, and a whole range of other components. Agriculture should be about replenishing our environment. Conventional farmers would control weeds by spraying. We don’t do that. Historically here we would have a problem with thistles and docks, and in order to deal with that we would mow them using a tractor. I thought it was ridiculous, costing time and diesel, and compressing the soil. We introduced sheep, putting them into the alleys. They eat the thistles, saving me from using nasty chemicals and diesel, and turning the grass into fertiliser. Then, at the end of the year, we get some meat. I’ve done the numbers and we’re absolutely saving in terms of climate change impact and getting things right. It’s an easy win! DO YOU THINK MORE REGULATION IS NEEDED AROUND THE WORD ‘REGENERATIVE’? Regenerative is absolutely being overclaimed and I think the use of the word is unhelpful. Some farmers using words like regenerative don’t realise it’s been ‘stolen’, that’s the problem. I would like all farming to be organic because the framework’s there already, but if there’s going to be other frameworks that are not organic, they need to be properly organised and not industry-run schemes. They would have to demonstrate the kind of oversight we get for organic. If you’re in a supermarket, you’re faced with a whole bunch of things making claims at you about standards, and supermarkets have their own labelling schemes. I think people are being hoodwinked. There’s not necessarily a way of knowing what each scheme means. WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ADVICE FOR OTHER FARMERS? Be more connected to the destination of your food, rather than putting into the commodity machine. Involve people, be more aware of your local environmental impact and what you’re doing in terms of pollution, and climate change and diversifying. David Wolfe and his family are custodians of organic farm, Wakelyns, in Suffolk, practicing agroforestry, while also growing diverse wheat varieties and lentils, all with an eye on caring for nature What is regenerative agriculture? Independent farming advisor and trainer, Niels Corfield, says the word ‘regenerative’ evokes a number of different contexts, but that it’s primarily about focusing on outcomes. “Regenerative agriculture is literally set of practices that deliver improvements in soil health, pasture health, landscape, ecosystems and biodiversity. You can look at whichever metric you like, but the key point is we’re regenerating a resource. Or you could call it ‘natural capital’. For Martin Lines, CEO of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, in addition to the above, peoplematter. “It’s about community. Bringing people together and puttingmore people into the landscape.” While also, “Giving farmers the opportunity to adjust, change, and go on a journey of transition of continued improvements.” There isn’t one set way of doing this, Martin continues. “Our earth isn’t rigid, our crops aren’t rigid. We have to adapt our practices and systems to what the soil and PIC: LEANNE COATES