Regenerative Agriculture
How Regenerative Agriculture Lets Us Hand Down Something Better to the Next Generations
Regenerative agriculture is one of the best tools we have, full stop, to combat climate change (and all of its no-good friends).
Where other industries are working on mitigating the harm their industry does, regenerative agriculture actually flips the script and heals part of this broken and breaking world. It's incredible. If you're looking for hope in defiance of the climate catastrophe that we've been taught to think of as inevitable - you've found it! Welcome to the movement!
Regenerative agriculture goes beyond sustainability. It represents a paradigm shift in farming—a shift towards harmony with nature, turning the tables on climate change, and a very real chance to leave something better for the next generations.
It should be how all farms run, but sadly, it isn't.
Regenerative agriculture provides transformational change on four fronts.
1. Carbon Capture
Our regenerative heirloom grain farmers keep living roots in the ground year round. By using simple practices like crop rotation and cover cropping, they harness the power of heirloom grains to pull carbon out of the atmosphere (where it contributes to a rapidly warming planet) and puts it back in the soil (where it belongs).
This is a huge deal. The world's farmland, if properly transitioned to regenerative agriculture, has the capacity to halt the global rise in temperatures.
2. Biodiversity
Soil health is like the gut health of the planet. And as with your own gut, it turns out that complexity is key to health.
Through practices like intercropping, polyculture, and habitat restoration, our regenerative heirloom grain farmers create thriving soil-based ecosystems that support a myriad of species, from pollinators to beneficial insects.
Fostering on-farm soil biodiversity also protects farmers from extreme weather events driven by climate change, it protects plants for disease and pests, and it and boosts per-acre productivity - all without using GMOs, chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
3. Cleaning Water Systems
Our regenerative heirloom grain farmers build soil that acts as a natural filter, purifying water systems and safeguarding water quality.
By minimizing chemical inputs and employing techniques like contour farming, farmers prevent soil erosion, nutrient runoff, and water pollution. It not only keeps local water systems healthier, it enhances the health of aquatic ecosystems alllll the way downstream to the gulf of Mexico.
4. Better Food
At its core, regenerative agriculture is about nurturing the soil to produce nourishing food.
So much of the soil in which our food is grown is now effectively an industiral imitation of soil. Imitation soil grows imitation food; real soil grows real food. By prioritizing living soil health, farmers yield nutrient-dense crops that taste better and promote human health.
Long Table's Regenerative Agriculture Commitment
We will always source our products from farms that are at the forefront of the work to ensure a thriving planet for the next generations. Period.