RFK Jr. Calls for Regenerative Agriculture — Companies Heed the Call by Greenwashing

In 2020, Cargill announced it will advance regenerative agriculture across 10 million acres in North America by 2030. Three years later, Nestlé said it will source 50 percent of its key ingredients from farmers adopting regenerative practices by 2030. By the same year, General Mills wants to advance regenerative agriculture on 1 million acres of farmland. “Regenerative agriculture” is everywhere, but what does that phrase actually mean?

Though it is historically known as a sustainable farming philosophy grounded in Indigenous knowledge that prioritizes soil restoration and ecosystem biodiversity, regenerative agriculture has no universal definition. Like many terms in the sustainability stratosphere — eco-friendly, all-natural, net-zero — regenerative is quickly becoming a buzzword used by corporations to exaggerate sustainability claims without actually changing their food production practices. Although there are several independently certified regenerative labels, the lack of an overarching certification opens the door to misleading co-optation.

“Regenerative has become a term that’s just a catch all. It doesn’t have an official or standardized definition. There’s no metrics or accountability for it,” said Stephanie Feldman, the science director at the Center for Biological Diversity.