Regenerative Minimum Standards for Retail Food Claims

AP Lewis
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These industry stakeholder workgroup sessions will help draf a guide for retailer buyers to use when reviewing retail food product packaging that displays regenerative claims. It is important to provide a clear decision tree based on what inputs and practices are reported by the brand. 

Episodes

  1. Oct 30

    Seed Sources and Sovereignty

    As our work groups sessions unfold, we now turn to how regenerative seed development, sourcing, and sharing is managed. It’s imperative to know how seed is grown, how traits are maintained, and how local lines are made widely available. Mutation, modification, and patents will be considered. Community and environmental outcomes are key. Here is a breakdown of the topics to be covered: Part 1 Humans have managed to survive 12,000 years by selecting and saving seeds to replant for future harvests. How has this legacy seed system functioned within agroecological communities? How has it responding to the pressures of temperatures, drought and flooding brought on by climate change? Part 2 Biotech interests promote their proprietary seeds by claiming higher yields to, they say, “feed the world”. They tend to study their best years during perfect conditions versus the most challenging years for indigenous crops. What is the current state of resilience and yield in non-biotech seed sources? Part 3 Many regenerative certification seals don’t speak to seed sourcing, especially when GMO and bioengineered seeds are used in their “regenerative” chemical-dependent cropping systems. At the same time, biotech interests claim endlessly that natural seeds and organic farming can’t “feed the world”. Is there any place for proprietary seeds in a regenerative system? Part 4 Certified organic seeds are more available than ever, but they tend to be cultivated by just a few companies in just a few optimized environments. They often don’t perform well in other places. Is this a weakness of certified organic systems? Can indigenous seed stock such as landraces selected for local performance fill the gap that commercial organic seed growers can’t fill? Should localized seeds be eligible for certified organic systems? Part 5 A seed contains a multitude of potential phenotype expressions as plant genetics respond to soil, weather, water, sun, wind, and insects. As a general rule, should seeds in regenerative systems focus on the most naturally adaptable rather than over-emphasizing a particular target trait, like yield, drought tolerance, or pest resistance? Part 6 What should concern us the most about new laws outlawing seed saving? Why do state ag universities focus primarily on biotech seeds? How is the organic and regenerative community building its own indigenous seed capacity? Where are our collective vulnerabilities? Miguel Santistevan has Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a Master’s Degree in Agriculture Ecology and has many publications and has done many presentations on his research about acequias, maize, and resilient food systems.  He is a certified Permaculture Designer with 30 years of experience.  He is the radio producer of ¡Que Vivan las Acequias! radio show with over 23 hours of programming and is the founder of “Sol Feliz Enterprises LLC” which consults on land improvement, conducts webinars, tours, & other educational programming including curriculum development.  He has been farming for 23 years on his ancestral land that is connected to the Acequia Madre del Sur as a parciante and has served as past Mayordomo and President of his acequia.  He is the 4th Taos Poet Laureate for 2023 & 2024, doing a project to inspire youth to produce and perform poetry.  Most importantly, he is a husband and a father with two daughters. Bob Whitney – Extension Organic Specialist Bob Whitney serves as the statewide Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Organic Specialist, helping Texas farmers, ranchers, handlers and businesses with organic certification, production, research, markets and education. Joni Kindwall-Moore is an entrepreneur, scientist, and registered nurse with 25+ years of scientific inquiry, bedside healthcare, and food system activism aimed at reshaping the US grain sector, focused on climate-smart farming, regenerative agricultural practices, nutrient density, and “soil-to-plate” transparency. Deb Echo-Hawk (Pawnee) is an Indigenous leader, seed saver, and the founder and executive director of the Pawnee Seed Preservation Society. She is widely known as the lifelong “Keeper of the Seed” for the Pawnee Nation. Julia Dakin is a farmer and seed activist in Mendocino County, California. She has been involved in agriculture for most of her life, and has devoted the past few years to growing market crops and teaching the benefits of seed saving, local adaptation, and genetic diversity. Where this fits This session on regenerative seed sourcing builds on previous conversations about Synthetics, Soil Health and Fertility and Compost, Manure, and Cover Crops, Tillage, Ruminant Livestock, Hogs and Poultry, Dairy Production, by asking what are the best practices – and worst practices – when managing seed development, production and sharing in a regenerative system. Our panelists are practitioners with skills honed from decades of experimentation and learning. All session info at https://ifoamnorthamerica.org/regenerative-minimum-standards/  New podcasts released every three weeks.

  2. Oct 8

    GMOs and New Genetic Techniques

    This session on regenerative agriculture production builds on previous conversations about Synthetics, Soil Health and Fertility, Compost, Manure, and Cover Crops, Tillage, Ruminant Livestock, and Dairy Production by asking what are the best practices - and worst practices - when managing a regenerative system. Our panelists are practitioners with skills honed from decades of experimentation and learning. They also bring cautionary tales of shortcuts and unpredicted outcomes. Part 1 GMO is everywhere, so why do we even care? Part 2 What are examples the greatest threats from around the world in agriculture, food ingredients, food, animals, insects, fungi, soil, microbiomes and other areas? Part 3 What's a real-world example of how these genetic techniques work? Part 4 Can these technologies really claim to be regenerative and climate friendly? Is there any part of these technologies that is defensible? Part 5 How are these techniques disclosed in the supply chain and on retail food products? Special bonus session Hear directly from the leaders of the grassroots campaign to keep GMO corn genetics out of Mexico. All session info at https://ifoamnorthamerica.org/regenerative-minimum-standards/  New podcasts released every three weeks.

  3. Sep 17

    Dairy Production

    Please join us for this stakeholder session on Minimum Regenerative Standards for retail food claims. This session will focus on regenerative dairy production. Guest panelists include Dr. Meg Cattell (CSU), Phil Forbes (Kalona) and Phyllis Van Amburgh (Dharma Lea). Pics and bios below. As our work groups sessions unfold, we now turn to how regenerative dairy production is managed. It's imperative to know how feed is grown, how pastures and paddocks are maintained, and how milking, pasturing, and harvest are managed. Vaccinations, antibiotics and other pharmaceutical use will be examined. Animal welfare and environmental outcomes are key. This session on regenerative dairy production builds on previous conversations about Synthetics, Soil Health and Fertility and Compost, Manure, and Cover Crops, Tillage, Ruminant Livestock, and Hogs and Poultry, by asking what are the best practices - and worst practices - when managing dairy production in a regenerative system. Our panelists are practitioners with skills honed from decades of experimentation and learning. They also bring cautionary tales of shortcuts and unpredicted outcomes. The session is organized around the following topics to help stay focused but also embrace the holistic complexity of dairy production: PART ONE: What is the longstanding and ancient human relationship to milk animals? • Safe and nutritious meat/milk/preserved food/ byproducts produced by animals consuming inedible grass and non-potable water • Key foundation for family and community food sovereignty and resilience. • A system that cares for animals and ecological outcomes. • Source of manure fertility for food crops PART 2: What are the current best practices in dairy in North America and are they still similar? • Animal welfare • Pasturing • Grassfed ecology • Appropriate breeds • Scale of operation • Feed, forage • Confinement .and manure management • Local processing and consumption PART 3: We need to take a moment to describe conventional and large-scale dairy industry’s weak points, where the economic and ecological system built to support it often undermines some longstanding best practices. • Substantial grain and silage feeding • Feed crops produced with GMO and conventional pesticides • Concentrated confinement and antibiotic treatment • No real and consistent access to living pasture • Little improvement to ecological outcomes PART 4: Describe the tensions between higher production costs, and consumer demand when weighing higher retail prices. • Accounting for the integration of true costs into production system instead of externalizing costs to environment, animal welfare, community vitality. • What works to communicate to shoppers the values behind the higher price? • What works to communicate to shoppers how low-priced industrial milk is based on externalized costs to the animal welfare, worker welfare, farmers, and local ecology? • Why are some smaller certified organic dairies struggling to maintain market share and stay in operation? Do legitimate label claims help fix this imbalance? PART 5: Comparing label claims and certification systems • What parts of current best practices are addressed by USDA organic certification and which are not? • Grassfed, herd size, access to pasture, antibiotics, weaning, grain supplements, nutrition supplements, insemination. • Origin or livestock, non-GMO grain and silage, antibiotic use • Are current NOP Organic rules comprehensive? Consistent? Enforced? • Is there a regenerative claim whose requirements meet your own expectations of “regenerative”? • What practices and outcomes make a dairy operation regenerative? • Can average shoppers consistently match practices to label claims across brands? All session info at https://ifoamnorthamerica.org/regenerative-minimum-standards/  New podcasts released every three weeks.

  4. Aug 27

    Hogs and Poultry Production

    Please join us for our next stakeholder session on Minimum Regenerative Standards for retail food claims. This session will focus on regenerative hog and poultry production. Guest panelists are Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin of Tree Range Farms, Heidi Diestel of Diestel Turkey, and Greg Gunthorp of Gunthrop Family Farms. Pics and bios below. As our work groups sessions unfold, we now turn to how regenerative hog and poultry production is managed from start to finish. It's imperative to know feed is grown, how pastures, paddocks and coops are maintained, and how the animals' life cycles are supported. Vaccinations, antibiotics and other pharmaceutical use will be examined. Animal welfare and environmental outcomes are key. This session on regenerative hog and poultry production builds on previous conversations about Synthetics, Soil Health and Fertility and Compost, Manure, and Cover Crops, Tillage, and Ruminant Livestock by asking what are the best practices - and worst practices - when managing pigs and chickens in a regenerative system. Our panelists are practitioners with skills honed from decades of experimentation and learning. They also bring cautionary tales of shortcuts and unpredicted outcomes. To make sure everyone can follow along, here is a general outline of the discussion: First, we will describe how both hogs and poultry managed in a regenerative system can benefit ecology, animals, and communities. Second, we will ask where are the weak spots in current regenerative production practices, and what can we do to strengthen them? We will focus first on feed sources, and then on confinement practices and animal welfare. Third, of the many hog and poultry facilities that claim regenerative outcomes, how much of this is defensible and how much is marketing puffery? What are the deal-breakers for you?  Are environmental outcomes alone a sufficient measure? Fourth, a lighting round of “thumbs up or thumbs down on” on a list of inputs and practices. Fifth, access to processing and access to retail and institutional markets is a key tenet of regenerative agriculture. Why are both so hard to achieve, and what to do about it? SideBar: What’s up with eggs? With special guest Steve LaQua of Mid-States Specialty Eggs. Lastly, what is our right relationship with livestock animals, the planet, and with each other? All session info at https://ifoamnorthamerica.org/regenerative-minimum-standards/  New podcasts released every three weeks.

  5. Aug 8

    Ruminant Livestock Management

    Please join us for our next stakeholder session on Minimum Regenerative Standards for retail food claims. This session will focus on ruminant livestock production. Guest panelists include Carrie Richards of Richards Regenerative, Matt Maier of Thousand Hills, Dawn Sherman of the Tanka Fund, and Lucille Contreras of Texas Tribal Buffalo Project. As our work groups sessions unfold, we now turn to how ruminant livestock in managed from birth to slaughter. It’s imperative to know feed is grown, how grasslands are managed, and how grazing is accomplished. Hormones, vaccinations, antibiotics and other pharmaceutical use will be examined. Animal welfare and environmental outcomes are key. And, we can talk livestock without examining how Big Meat is curtailing access to retail and institutional markets and promoting imported product.  This session on regenerative livestock production builds on previous conversations about Synthetics, Soil Health and Fertility and Compost, Manure, and Cover Crops and Tillage Practices by asking what are the best practices – and worst practices – when managing ruminant livestock production in a regenerative system, especially within the constraints of a tightly controlled market. Our panelists are practitioners with skills honed from decades of experimentation and learning. They also bring cautionary tales of shortcuts and unpredicted outcomes. In this session we are addressing the complex issue of RUMINANT LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION. To make it easier for everyone to follow the conversation, we are breaking it up into distinct parts. At the end, we will try to put those parts all together. First, to establish a baseline we will describe the historic range of buffalo and their essential role in North American ecology: grass to protein; urine, manure and hoofs on the soil; instinctive movement to fresh pastures. Second, how can we replicate parts of this system? We will discuss appropriate ways to raise cattle, goats, and sheep on large and small operations to achieve the same ecosystem benefits of wild herds.  Third, when done right, can we avoid the ecological challenges of industrial livestock production such as deforestation, GMO grain production, low animal welfare, the use of antibiotics and hormones, and contaminated manure? Next, what about the workarounds and shortcuts we see in many industrial ruminant production methods? How do we address areas of tension like GMO and monoculture grain finishing, early weaning, sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics, vaccinations, and confinement feeding? Are they deal-breakers? Finally, what is our right relationship with livestock animals, the planet, and with each other? We will address the human aspects of ruminant livestock farming such as economic and food security, community culture and vitality, local slaughter and processing, government regulations, access to wider markets. Note on Regenerative Minimum Standards In drafting a guide for retailer buyers to use when reviewing retail food product packaging that displays regenerative claims, it is important to provide a clear decision tree based on what inputs and practices are reported by the brand.  Our expert panelists will try to answer these questions based on their hard-won experience — and pose new questions as well. We invite you to attend and participate in this session. The session begins with about 45 minutes of wide ranging prompts discussed by the panelists and moderator. You will then be able to ask your own questions through a moderated Q&A function. Finally, we will open up the call for public comments on the topic.  You can also submit written comments or questions any time via the Reply section on the main regenerative minimum standard program page. All session info at https://ifoamnorthamerica.org/regenerative-minimum-standards/  New podcasts released every three weeks.

    Ruminant Livestock Management

  6. Aug 8

    Tillage and Cultivation

    Please join us for our next stakeholder session on Minimum Regenerative Standards for retail food claims. This session will focus on tillage and cultivation practices. Guest panelists are Dr. Kris Nichols, W.B Brown, and Dr. Anna Jones-Crabtree (see bios below). As our work groups sessions unfold, we now turn to how soil is treated and conditioned. It’s imperative to know how soil disturbance is applied in the overall system for weed control, reversing compaction, increasing water infiltration, and erosion control, and how organic matter is incorporated back into the soil for conversion into plant nutrition. This session on Tillage Practices builds on previous conversations about Soil Health and Fertility and Compost, Manure, and Cover Crops by asking what are the best practices – and worst practices – when opening up a field. Our panelists are practitioners with skills honed from decades of experimentation and learning. They also bring cautionary tales. Today we are addressing the complex issue of Tillage Practices. To make it easier for everyone to follow the conversation, we are breaking it up into four distinct parts. At the end, we will try to put those parts all together. First, we will consider food companies that claim to be promoting regenerative No-Till supply chains for their products, but whose methods include bioengineered seeds, synthetic nitrogen, synthetic pesticides, and monoculture planting. Second, we will contrast conventional No-Till with look at what it takes to use organic No-Till successfully. Third, we will discuss appropriate types of tilling within a regenerative system at different scales and how the overall outcomes can be climate positive and environmentally beneficial. Next, we will talk about the role of cultivation practices as distinct from tillage. Finally, we will address food, community, farm economics, and the future of regenerative systems. Some light prep reading:  https://civileats.com/2025/05/08/why-most-no-till-agriculture-is-not-actually-regenerative/ Note on Regenerative Minimum Standards In drafting a guide for retailer buyers to use when reviewing retail food product packaging that displays regenerative claims, it is important to provide a clear decision tree based on what inputs and practices are reported by the brand.  Our expert panelists will try to answer these questions based on their hard-won experience — and pose new questions as well. We invite you to attend and participate in this session. The session begins with about 45 minutes of wide ranging prompts discussed by the panelists and moderator. You will then be able to ask your own questions through a moderated Q&A function. Finally, we will open up the call for public comments on the topic.  You can also submit written comments or questions any time via the Reply section on the main regenerative minimum standard program page. All session info at https://ifoamnorthamerica.org/regenerative-minimum-standards/  New podcasts released every three weeks.

    Tillage and Cultivation

  7. Aug 8

    Compost, Manure and Cover Crops

    Please join us for our next stakeholder session on Minimum Regenerative Standards for retail food claims. This session will focus on Compost, Manure and Cover Crops. Panelists with bios are below. As our work groups sessions unfold, we now turn to sources of fertility such as compost, manure, cover crops and green manure. It’s imperative to know where these materials come from, how they are grown, and how they are incorporated into the cropping system. Just because it’s organic matter does not mean it qualifies as a regenerative input. This session on Compost, Manure and Cover Crops builds on previous conversations by asking, what are best practices for using off-farm manure, challenges with composts, and the important role of cover crops and inter-cropping. Our panelists are practitioners of best practices with skills honed from decades of experimentation and learning. They also bring cautionary tales. Topics for this session: Manure from conventional livestock operations vs hoofs on the ground.Cattle, hog and poultry manure – challenges and opportunitiesMunicipal sources of organic matter – the good and badUsing cover crops as soil armorHerbicide use with cover cropsUsing green manure as a nutrient sourceChallenges of scaling compost operations using off-farm sourcesSmall scale agriculture approaches to organic matterWindrows and tilling organic matter into soil – best practicesPharma, metals, and pesticide residues in manure and compostIs there a role for synthetic biology in managing soil nutritionIn drafting a guide for retailer buyers to use when reviewing retail food product packaging that displays regenerative claims, it is important to provide a clear decision tree based on what inputs and practices are reported by the brand.  Our expert panelists will try to answer these questions based on their hard-won experience — and pose new questions as well. We invite you to attend this session on Compost, Manure, and Cover Crops. The session begins with about 45 minutes of wide ranging prompts discussed by the panelists and moderator. You will then be able to ask your own questions through a moderated Q&A function. Finally, we will open up the call for public comments on the topic.  You can also submit written comments or questions any time via the Reply section on the main regenerative minimum standard program page. All session info at https://ifoamnorthamerica.org/regenerative-minimum-standards/  New podcasts released every three weeks.

    Compost, Manure and Cover Crops

  8. Aug 8

    Soil Health and Fertility

    In our session on synthetic inputs, it was clear that the use of synthetic nitrogen and pesticides was not an allowable practice in regenerative systems. Both panelists and attendees concluded a properly designed system did not need to rely on these materials, and in fact would be damaged by their use.  This session on soil health builds on this approach by asking, where does fertility in a regenerative system come from? What materials can be used to increase fertility and soil function? How can a farm verify that its practices have been successful? What are the best practices for increasing and maintaining fertility? What is the range of uses on different farms? Is there such a thing as “transitional regenerative” when conventional practices have been terminated but soil health improvement is only a promise?  Summary: This meeting focused on developing consensus standards for regenerative agriculture claims to help shoppers trust regenerative labels while preventing misleading use of the term by brands that don’t meet minimum standards. The panel of experts, including Nicole Masters, Noah Wentz, and Zach Heyman, discussed soil health and fertility practices, with participants sharing experiences about transitioning from conventional to regenerative farming methods. The group explored challenges around transitioning farm practices, the importance of context-specific approaches rather than one-size-fits-all solutions, and the complexity of measuring soil health outcomes. Key topics included the role of synthetic inputs during transitions, the value of systems thinking over reductionist approaches, and the need for meaningful verification methods that go beyond cherry-picked metrics. The discussion highlighted that regenerative agriculture should be viewed as a continuous process rather than a static certification, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a full toolkit of farming practices while focusing on ecosystem outcomes and farmer intent. All session info at https://ifoamnorthamerica.org/regenerative-minimum-standards/  New podcasts released every three weeks.

    Soil Health and Fertility

  9. Aug 7

    Synthetic Fertilizers and Pesticides

    IFOAM North America and key food retailers are hosting a series of conversations on regenerative agriculture topics to work towards an industry consensus on minimum regenerative standards. The primary focus is to ensure that grocery shoppers can confidently choose products bearing a regenerative claim without being misled or confused. We seek to enable gatekeeper retailers to evaluate potentially substandard claims so only bona fide regenerative products are for sale on their shelves. This first call will dig into the role of synthetic fertilizers and pesticide inputs. This panel discussion tackles the “pragmatic vs. purist” debate head-on, aiming to determine if a minimum threshold for synthetic use can coexist with fully realized regenerative principles. Our three panelists all have deep hands-on experience grappling with these issues. By navigating the tension between soil biology and scalable production, we will work toward a consensus on the minimum baseline requirements needed to provide reliable clarity for producers, global supply chains, retailers, and the everyday shopper.  All session info at https://ifoamnorthamerica.org/regenerative-minimum-standards/  New podcasts released every three weeks.

    Synthetic Fertilizers and Pesticides
  • 9 Episodes

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These industry stakeholder workgroup sessions will help draf a guide for retailer buyers to use when reviewing retail food product packaging that displays regenerative claims. It is important to provide a clear decision tree based on what inputs and practices are reported by the brand. 

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