Regenerative Agriculture Diet: Unlocking the Benefits for Health and Sustainability

Modern food systems face increasing scrutiny for their contribution to environmental degradation, climate change, and public health concerns. A potential solution lies in regenerative agriculture (RA), a holistic farming paradigm aimed at restoring ecosystem functionality while potentially enhancing the nutritional quality of food. Long before regenerative agriculture became a popular term, Joyce Farms was already pioneering its principles. Their mission to produce the best meat and poultry led them to adopt traditional farming techniques that worked in conjunction with Mother Nature. Initially, these methods were chosen to best support heritage breeds, which thrive under natural conditions similar to those of their ancestors.

This article explores the benefits of regenerative agriculture, focusing on its impact on soil health, nutrient density, human health, and environmental sustainability.

What is Regenerative Agriculture?

Regenerative Agriculture is a farming method that relies on nature, not harsh chemicals or disruptive practices like tilling. It offers a multitude of benefits for our farms, our environments, and our food. Regenerative agriculture (RA) has gained international attention as an ecologically integrative approach that seeks not only to sustain agricultural productivity but also to actively regenerate degraded ecosystems.

There is no set definition of regenerative agriculture. Truly regenerative agriculture is a holistic approach to farming that prioritizes soil health and biodiversity protection in order to achieve climate resilience, water conservation, carbon sequestration, and human wellbeing. Regenerative agriculture isn't a one-size-fits-all approach with strict rules or formulas. On our farms, we use these principles to guide decisions, so that they align with the natural processes of the ecosystem. Understanding the unique characteristics of each farm's ecosystem is crucial. Not every farm is the same. The landscape, regional weather patterns, soil make up, and native animal, as well as plant species all have an influence on the farm’s ecosystem. Understanding how the land was previously managed or inhabited can shed light on how to begin the transition from an industrial or sustainable farm to a regenerative one.

Core Practices of Regenerative Agriculture

RA encompasses a suite of agricultural techniques rooted in ecological principles and systems thinking. Unlike conventional farming, which often relies heavily on cultivating a single crop species over a large area, synthetic inputs, and mechanical tillage, RA employs nature-based solutions that restore soil function and promote long-term agroecosystem resilience.

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Key practices include:

• Avoiding synthetic inputs: Reliance on chemical inputs is degenerative. Avoidance of chemical inputs is regenerative. Chemical inputs like herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and synthetic fertilizers degrade soil health. They alter soil pH, degrade its structure, and increase dependency on these chemicals, leading to higher costs for farmers and pollution of water sources. Regenerative agriculture eliminates the need for these chemicals by relying on healthy soil to support thriving ecosystems.
• Diverse plant life: Perpetual monocultures are degenerative. Diverse plant life is regenerative. In agriculture, a monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time, like those rows and rows of corn or soybeans that we’re all accustomed to seeing when we drive past farmland. On our farms, when a monoculture crop has been planted and harvested, and rolled down with our roller crimper, a diverse cover crop is planted to feed the soil microbiology before the next cycle. Our livestock pastures are also filled with diversity. The more diversity in plant species there is on the farm, the more diverse the soil microbiology becomes. Diverse soil microbiology increases nutrient density in plants that supports nutrient-rich meat in animals that later translates into natural flavor that’s better for human health.
• Biomimicry through animal integration: Removing livestock from farming is degenerative. Biomimicry through animal integration is regenerative. Confining livestock in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) or removing them from the farming process eliminates their benefits to the farm ecosystem. Integrating livestock through adaptive grazing mimics natural processes. At Joyce Farms, we rotate cattle and pigs across pastures, simulating the movement of wild herds. This rotation allows animals to graze and trample plants, providing natural soil armor and fertilization. Adaptive grazing subdivides large pastures into smaller paddocks, with animals rotated through them, allowing grass and forage to regenerate in previously grazed areas.
• No-till farming: Tilling is degenerative. Many farmers till their land between plantings to "fluff" the soil, mix in oxygen, and increase water infiltration. However, tilling actually harms the soil. It disrupts the network of fragile microbes, decreases water infiltration due to soil compaction, and releases excess carbon and nitrogen into the atmosphere, contributing to climate instability. Instead of tilling, we use a roller-crimper, which rolls over existing plant life, protecting the soil from extreme temperatures.
• Planting cover crops: During parts of the year when a farm’s main crops aren’t growing or have been harvested, farmers can plant other crops to maintain the soil. Cover crops like buckwheat, barley and vetch grow during these “off-seasons” and enrich soils through their deep roots and, in some cases, their ability to harvest nitrogen from the atmosphere. Some cover crops help naturally control weeds, allowing farmers to grow more food while using less of the herbicides that can harm other species. They also help soils retain more water, a huge benefit in semi-arid regions.
• Agroforestry: In some regions, planting trees among crops-or planting crops among trees-can create food forests that help curb deforestation and fight climate change. In the Brazilian Amazon, farmers are planting diverse agroforests of cocoa trees, taller fruit trees and various native hardwood tree species.

Soil Health and Nutritional Density

Healthy food comes from healthy soil, but years of industrial farming have left most of our country's soil over-tilled, over-fertilized, exposed, eroded, and treated with chemicals. We cannot continue to abuse our soil. Most food in America today is produced through industrial agriculture. On our network of small family farms where our heritage animals are raised, we have moved beyond sustainable farming to follow regenerative practices. This method not only sustains but also improves the health of our land and food systems. The foundation of our success? A single spoonful of healthy soil contains more life than there are humans on Earth.

Soil health is the cornerstone of crop nutrition. Rich, biologically active soil enables efficient nutrient cycling through the ecosystem, the ability of a plant’s roots to penetrate the soil, and microbial symbioses that enhance the plant’s uptake of essential elements. RA systems have been shown to increase soil organic carbon, improve the ability of soil particles to clump together and form more stable units, and elevate the abundance and diversity of microbial communities.

Healthy soils under RA management aid in the formation and distribution of key phytochemicals, such as antioxidants, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds, which contribute to the overall health-promoting properties of fruits and vegetables. The enhanced nutrient profiles of RA-grown crops could play a significant role in addressing the widespread micronutrient deficiencies, often termed “hidden hunger,” that affect more than two billion people globally.

Regenerative agriculture prioritizes soil health by incorporating practices such as composting, reduced or no tillage, cover cropping, crop rotations, and rotational grazing. Rooted in indigenous ecological knowledge, this way of farming recognizes that the health of people and our planet begins with healthy soils. Healthier soils with improved soil structure, organic matter, and other physical and chemical properties lead to greater microbial and fungal diversity. This enhanced biodiversity plays a major role in helping plants unlock access to nutrients. The plant roots, bacteria, and fungi develop a symbiotic relationship wherein the bacteria and fungi enhance the plants’ ability to access nutrients and water from the soil.

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Recent research is showing that how we farm is directly linked to the nutritional quality of our food. Most notably, in a 2022 study comparing regenerative and conventional agriculture practices, the authors, David Montgomery and Anna Bikle, found that the regeneratively grown crops had:

• 34% more vitamin K
• 15% more vitamin E
• 17% more vitamin B2
• 11% more calcium
• 17-23% more zinc
• 15% more total carotenoids
• 20% more total phenolics
• 22% more total phytosterols

Their results show that across the board, crops grown in regeneratively farmed soils had greater nutrient content than conventional and even organic production systems. In some cases, when compared directly to conventionally grown crops, the regenerative crops had 50% more zinc and magnesium, almost 50% more carotenoids, and 60-70% more total phenolics.

The Impact of Specific Practices on Nutrient Density

• Organic Inputs: The use of organic inputs, including compost, green or animal manure, and fungal and/or bacterial inoculations, has been shown to help increase mineral uptake and phytochemical content of crops. This is largely due to increases in soil biodiversity associated with plant nutrient uptake. Studies at a variety of institutions have reported that levels of zinc, iron, manganese, potassium, vitamin C, and an array of phytochemicals increased after applying compost rich in symbiotic fungi and bacteria to plants.
• No or Reduced Tillage, Cover Crops, and Crop Rotations: When practiced together, reduced or no tillage, cover cropping, and crop rotations have the greatest positive effects on soil health. These practices play a major role in promoting plant and soil health which leads to improved nutrition. For example, heavy tillage can cause mineral depletion and the release of organic carbon, an essential food source for microbes. In contrast, the rotation of crops within fields can improve the nutrient content of subsequent crops.

Nutritional Improvements in Animal-Derived Foods

Modern food systems are increasingly under scrutiny for contributing to environmental degradation, climate change, and public health concerns. Regenerative agriculture (RA) has emerged as a holistic farming paradigm aimed at restoring ecosystem functionality while potentially enhancing the nutritional quality of food.

Regenerative agriculture also affects the nutrient quality of animal products. These fatty acids are known to reduce systemic inflammation, improve cardiovascular health, and support neurological function.

A study comparing regenerative pasture-raised to conventional feedlot beef and pork found major differences in omega-3 fats. Regenerative beef had 3 times more omega-3 fats, and more than 6 times more of the essential omega-3, alpha linolenic acid (ALA). Similarly, the regeneratively produced pork had more than 9 times as many omega-3s, more than 11 times as much ALA.

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When analyzing the nutrient density of regeneratively pastured animals, studies consistently show a lower ratio of omega-6 to omega-3s. Humans evolved on diets that contained equal amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 fats. However, a typical Western diet now consists of a ratio anywhere from a 10:1 to 20:1, which contributes to chronic inflammation in the body that underlies many metabolic diseases prevalent today. In comparison to animals fed grain and raised in confinement, animals raised on regenerative pastures consistently prove to be nutritionally superior.

Phytonutrients in Animal Products

Animal products aren’t often recognized as sources of phytochemicals, but research shows that livestock, specifically those raised on diverse pastures, can provide benefits to human health.

One study analyzed the levels of phytonutrients found in meat and dairy products of agroecological pasture-raised animals. What they found was significant differences in the presence of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiviral, and anticarcinogenic properties. Goats that were grazed on a wide variety of grasses, legumes, and forbes had 5-fold more terpenoids, powerful antioxidants, in their milk compared to goats consuming a limited number of grasses. Additionally, certain phenols, another group of beneficial antioxidant compounds, were present only in the milk of goats grazed on pasture and were undetectable when goats were fed concentrates in confinement.

When looking at milk obtained from cattle grazing diversified forages, there were 6-23x more terpenoids than the milk of cattle fed concentrates. Additionally, the researchers found that the grazing cattle had a flavonoid content, a phytochemical recognized for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiviral, and anticarcinogenic properties, that was 6-fold higher.

These findings suggest that products from animals raised on regenerative pastures could provide a source of beneficial compounds in our diets.

Implications for Human Health

Higher nutritional density in food holds the potential to mitigate diet-related health challenges. Micronutrients such as vitamin K, calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids play critical roles in bone health, immune function, and inflammation regulation.

Regenerative Agriculture and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) pose a global health challenge, leading to substantial morbidity, mortality, and economic strain. A review underscores the escalating incidence of NCDs worldwide and highlights the potential of regenerative agriculture (RA) products in mitigating these diseases.

Substantial evidence supports the use of dietary manipulation in the treatment and prevention of NCDs. Dietary manipulation has long been used to help treat NCDs, and numerous research studies confirm the role of diet in reducing type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity, atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular disease, and other illnesses.

The importance of food in limiting the impact of NCDs appears unquestioned. Moreover, there is developing evidence suggesting that the food produced by RA is of better nutritional quality, given that RA practices foster greater soil microbial diversity, benefitting the microbiota of plants and animals, including humans.

The Gut Microbiome Connection

Examining the role of the gut microbiome in various diseases, including liver disorders, allergies, metabolic syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and colon cancer, reveals compelling evidence implicating its influence on disease development. Notably, dietary modifications can positively affect the gut microbiome, fostering a symbiotic relationship with the host and making this a critical strategy in disease prevention and treatment.

Agricultural practices utilizing regenerative principles (regenerative agriculture [RA]) have been suggested to mitigate and correct some IA-related challenges. We sought to evaluate the current evidence on how health is affected by the influence of diet on the gut microbiota. Moreover, we examined the importance of soil and plant microbiomes, agricultural methods (IA versus RA), and the resultant quality of food on the gut microbiome and, ultimately, on health.

• Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Alcoholic Liver Disease (ALD): In the progression from normal to hepatic steatosis and transition to NASH, there is increasing evidence that the gut microbiome plays a role. The gut microbiome also appears to play a significant role in the development and progression of alcoholic liver disease Proposed mechanisms of injury are common to both NASH and ALD, with some differences.
• Allergies: Asthma, as well as food and environmental allergies, have been increasing in prevalence and are a growing public health burden. The gut microbiome significantly affects the risks for asthma and allergies among genetically predisposed atopic individuals. Prebiotic foods (e.g., dietary fiber, fruits, vegetables, and resistant starch) and probiotic foods (e.g., yogurt, kefir, kimchi, miso, pickles, sauerkraut, and tempeh) promote the growth and maintenance of Bifidobacterium species, some Clostridia species, and Lactobacilli. Bifidobacteria work to reduce allergies by enhancing gut barrier function and upregulating tolerance mechanisms in the GI tract that reduce inflammation.
• Clostridium Difficile Infection: Clostridium difficile is a significant cause of intestinal infection, especially after the use of antibiotics. When this balance is disturbed, usually after the administration of antibiotics, there can be a proliferation of Clostridium difficile.
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): The pathogenesis of IBD appears to involve an interplay between host genetic factors and microbial and environmental factors. Dysbiosis as a consequence of dietary factors can lead to abnormal development and/or functioning of the immune system in genetically susceptible individuals. Dietary measures such as the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, probiotics, antibiotics, and Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) all show promise.

Regenerative Agriculture and Climate Change

Climate change is destabilizing our global food system by disrupting weather patterns and throwing off the reliability of growing seasons. With more nature-based, regenerative practices, farming and ranching can be a powerful solution to our climate and biodiversity crises.

Regenerative agriculture is the way forward to decarbonise the food system and make farming resilient to climate shocks. Regenerative farming on 40% of the world’s cropland would save around 600 million tons of emissions. This is around 2% of the total, equivalent to the footprint of Germany. More carbon exists in soils than in all vegetation and the atmosphere combined. Partnering with nature is one of the most effective ways to be resilient to the effects of climate change, and that’s exactly what regenerative food practices do.

Regenerative practices don’t just make fields more climate resilient, they also help farmers withstand uncertainty so they can continue to grow food.

Regenerative Farming’s Benefits

Together, we have spoken with farmers on all continents the past year, and witnessed first-hand regenerative farming’s impact:

1. Climate: It helps mitigate emissions such as through carbon sequestration and improved crop resilience for climate shocks.
2. Soil Health: It improves soil fertility through increased biomass production, thereby preventing soil degradation.
3. Resource use efficiency: Higher nutrient use efficiency (NUE) increases crop yield and optimizes land use efficiency, while improved water use efficiency reduces the stress on freshwater reserves.
4. Biodiversity: More diverse rotation and reduced pesticide usage supports biodiversity on farms while, in some cases, higher crop yields mean more natural habitats can be protected rather than cleared for agriculture.
5. Prosperity: Regenerative agriculture improves long-term farmer livelihood through reduced costs, improved crop yield and crop quality, and greater resilience to market volatility and extreme climate events. It also opens new green revenue streams for farmers, such as rewarding them for carbon capture and storage in the soil.

Overcoming Barriers to Adoption

Yet despite the clear benefits, it is not scaling fast enough. To us, this is both frustrating and encouraging: frustrating because the solutions are already available; encouraging because we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

Our work identified that the single most important reason for the lack of scale is that we have not succeeded in making regenerative farming commercially attractive enough in the short term for the farmers. The risk and cost of transition is the key priority that must be tackled, and we believe there are five ways to do it:

1. Agree on common metrics for environmental outcomes: Today, there are many disparate efforts to define and measure environmental outcomes. We must move to a set of metrics adopted by the whole food industry, making it easier for farmers to adjust their practices and for positive changes to be rewarded.
2. Build farmers’ income from environmental outcomes such as carbon reduction and removal: We need a well-functioning market with a credible system of payments for environmental outcomes, trusted by buyers and sellers, that creates a new, durable, income stream for farmers.
3. Create mechanisms to share the cost of transition with farmers: Today, all the risk and cost sits with the farmers. It is impossible to achieve systems transformation without sharing the burden and benefits through the value chain.
4. Ensure government policy enables and rewards farmers for transition: Too many government policies are in fact supporting the status quo of farming. That has led us to a broken food system. The food sector must come together and work jointly with regulators to address this.
5. Develop new sourcing models to spread the cost of transition: We must move from sourcing models that take crops from anywhere to models that involve collaboration between off-takers from different sectors to take crops from areas converting to regenerative farming.

Research Gaps and Future Directions

Despite the promise, current literature lacks large-scale, longitudinal human studies that can firmly establish the causal relationship between RA-derived food consumption and health outcomes.

While preliminary findings are encouraging, several limitations exist in the current body of research. Future research should focus on developing standardized protocols for RA assessment, conducting clinical trials, and evaluating nutrient absorption and utilization in human subjects.

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