REGEN1 starts in Northern California and is designed to expand and adapt to regions across the globe.
REGEN1 represents a coalition of farmers and ranchers, scientists and conservationists, supermarkets, restaurants, food service companies, designers, storytellers, and entrepreneurs who share a vision to restore our ecosystems and create a more equitable food system.
Water
By building SOM and keeping roots in the ground, regenerative systems allow more water to infiltrate, resulting in less overall water use, less water running off-site, and less soil, nutrients, and herbicides/pesticides ending up downstream along with it.
REGEN1 supports farmers and ranchers in their transition to regenerative agriculture by helping purchasers better support these producers and by educating consumers on where and how their food is grown.
A model that scales with
Farmers and Ranchers
at the center.
REGEN1 farmers and ranchers are eligible for targeted purchasing commitments that reward them for the outcomes and ecosystem benefits provided by their regenerative practices. REGEN1 is also developing incentives to assist conventional growers in transitioning to regenerative agriculture.
REGEN1 follows four key principles guided by science and shaped by those that tend our land.
REGEN1 has identified five critical ecosystem benefits that consumers and industry are interested in supporting.
A coalition of domain experts that includes scientists, academics, conservationists, food purchasers, and companies, storytellers, designers, entrepreneurs, farmers, and ranchers have come together to develop a suite of integrated tools that can identify, measure, score, and validate the contributions regenerative farming makes to five key ecosystem benefits: air, water, soil, biodiversity, and equity.
While the principles of regenerative agriculture are universal, their application is inherently place-based: a response to specific weather, soil types, and land use considerations. Practices that work in one region of the country won’t have the same impacts elsewhere.
REGEN1’s place-based approach to regenerative agriculture will connect REGEN1 farmers with consumers and the public with a campaign that utilizes point of purchase displays, educational curriculum, and other tools to explain the benefits of a place-based, community-centric approach to agriculture.
Purchasers in the REGEN1 Community are developing a market-driven model for regenerative agriculture that’s designed to accelerate the transition of one million acres from conventional to regenerative in Northern California by 2025.
The REGEN1 community—which includes food service companies, restaurants, wholesalers, CSAs, and farmers markets—is developing strategies to help farmers and ranchers receive targeted purchasing commitments in reward for the benefits they generate, and incentives to assist conventional growers in transitioning to regenerative agriculture.
REGEN1 recognizes that certifications are important but farmers can follow many paths to reach their destination.
Instead of focusing on practices, REGEN1 works with farmers and ranchers to develop tools that encourage every producer—even those growing conventionally—to embark on a path of continuous improvement, one that restores our ecosystems, improves the equity of our food systems, and contributes to a more resilient and equitable model for agriculture. The REGEN1 platform captures this information when onboarding new producers to capture the right data to help buyers make the best purchasing decisions.
When farmers can share the story of what’s happening on their land, consumers and purchasers can better support the food system they want to see.
OUR MISSION
Transition 1 Million Acres in Northern California to regenerative by 2025 and build an adaptive framework that scales worldwide.
About REGEN1
REGEN1 was created by Douglas Gayeton. It is a program of Green Brown Blue, a food systems solutions activator produced by The Lexicon with support from Food at Google. It brings together food companies, NGOs, scientists, entrepreneurs, and food producers from across the globe to tackle some of the most complex challenges facing our food systems, from regenerative agriculture to agrobiodiversity. Instead of an activator for startups or new products, participants design, rapidly prototype, and release tools for change every six months. Learn more by visiting greenbrownblue.com.
Team
REGEN1 features an unprecedented collaboration of leading food service companies, purchasers, soil scientists, academics, farmers, ranchers, environmental NGOs, and technical assistance providers.
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