Regenerative Organic Alliance

I am honored to join Theresa Sanchez - Regenerating the World, Alison Crowe, MBA and Christian Miller, to again participate in the highly regarded University of California, Davis, Wine Marketing Program. I will address brand development, logo creation and package design for wine on Tuesday, July 23rd at 4:00 PM (PDST). This course was the first of its kind created in partnership with the OIV MSC in Montpellier. It has become the premier, week long, in depth certification course demonstrating all aspects of effective wine marketing management in the complex U.S. market. The robust range of topics covered are sure to be of particular interest and value in today's challenging environment. Please review the agenda and join me and my impressive roster of colleagues by registering at: https://lnkd.in/g4vXM_H8 . And if you want to see me keep a straight face for 30 seconds, check out the video below. (Hard for me, but I did it.) Cheers!

It’s national cow appreciation day; to celebrate we want to spotlight the many ways cows benefit a regenerative organic farming system! 🐄 From a regenerative lens grazing cattle can be seen as an ecologically conscious input for the land. In grassy fields where cattle graze, they harvest the grass as food and through natural movement they push biomass into thatch, covering, protecting, and feeding organisms in the soil. The nutrients in the cow's manure works itself back into the land replenishing it and making it viable to grow more vigorous vegetation that starts the cycle again. 🐄As cows pull at grass while foraging, they stress the grass plants, signaling them to root deeper into the soil for stability. As the grass roots deeper it improves the tilth of the soil and improves carbon sequestration. 🐄 Through focused grazing cattle can help eliminate growth of invasive species and allow native grasses to become dominate. This welcomes a host of beneficial insects and improves the entire farm habitat. Through a holistic approach in livestock grazing, cows can make an incredible addition in a regenerative organic system and greatly boost soil health… so long as we #FarmLikeTheWorlDependsOnIt! We highly recommend you read Will Harris’s book 'A Bold Return To Giving A Damn'; covering his life story as a leader in regenerative cattle ranching focusing on good land stewardship, animal welfare, and building up his local community. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gWncBmw9

As the term "Regenerative Agriculture" gains more traction each day, it's important to understand what it truly means. Its implementation places soil, farms, farmers, and products at the forefront of the fight against climate change and the push for social fairness. 💡 Learn more about how you can help drive change with Regenerative Organic Certified products: https://hubs.ly/Q02FdtYb0 #regenerativeagriculture #sustainablefarming #agriculture

As a consumer, reading packaged food labels can be very confusing- and all too often disappointing. For decades, the industry has been covering packaged goods with greenwashed terms in order to increase profits. Eco-words such as “natural”, “sustainable”, “pure”, have all been run through the industry's marketing washing machine, leaving these terms depleted of any value behind their true definition. ‘Regenerative’ faces this same threat-  As many product and label claims on the current market are being made with no real connection in planetary health. The most crucial component missing from many of these regenerative product claims is organic certification status; a baseline that regenerative simply can not go without. The Regenerative Organic Certified® label is the only regenerative seal on the market that takes organic into consideration for its framework, that then builds on soil health, animal welfare, and farmworker fairness standards. Organic certification, the highest legal status for ecological farming that was set by the government in 1972, has set standards that eliminate all chemical killers and synthetic inputs, both of which preserve the soil microbiome. Regenerative can not go without organic. By first glance, a consumer should have the right to know the impact of that product, from farm to fork, without fear of falling into a marketing scheme. The Regenerative Organic Certified® seal is here to pave the path of integrity in labeling, for the soil, the animals, the people, and the planet.

Today, June 26th, we honor the one year passing of a very dear friend and leader in the regenerative organic movement. Paul Dolan made a lasting impact not only on the land he tended but on the hearts of each and every person that had the pleasure of knowing him. As a lifelong student of the land, Paul sought to continuously enhance his understanding of the restorative capacity of the soil and the farm, as well as its relationship to the regeneration of Earth’s healthy ecosystems. A note from our Executive Director, Elizabeth Whitlow: “Paul exuded humility and inquisitive leadership, and was always brimming with possibility, and generosity. He generously shared his wisdom with me and countless others among you. If you knew him, you know that integrity and authenticity were paramount to everything. You also knew that you mattered, that his care extended to each and every one of us. As a wise friend reminded me - grief waits for no one. And I remind you - we don't have to do it alone. We grieve together.” Paul, may you continue to rest in peace 6/26/2023.

This National Upcycling Day we want to celebrate one Regenerative Organic Certified® operation who makes upcycling a key focus in their operation. Harmless Harvest, one of the few Regenerative Organic Certified® coconut water brands on the market, doesn’t use just one portion of the coconut for their products, they utilize every bit of it, resulting in a zero waste circular operation! 🥥Harmless Harvest uses nearly 100,000,000 coconuts to make their products! After the juice of the young coconuts is harvested for their coveted coconut water, they are left with over 267,000,000 lbs of coconut husk and meat. 🥥Instead of wasting it, Harmless Harvest puts the leftovers to great use: 37.9% of the material is sent off for meat extraction to be used to make their nutrient-packed smoothie and pulp products, and nearly all the rest (62.1%) is sent off for fiber extraction! 🥥Where does the small amount of remaining material that isn't for food or fiber end up? What could be a better destiny for that 'waste' material than COMPOST to feed the soil and start the process all over again. 🙌 This upcycling day, and everyday, we commend Harmless Harvest as they #FarmLikeTheWorldDependsOnIt!

We are incredibly grateful for the many retailers who are helping to shape this movement and build awareness among consumers! Hooray to Jimbo's for showcasing Regenerative Organic Certified® as way for customers to have a positive impact with their purchase.

Today, we celebrate Juneteenth as an opportunity to learn about, reflect on, and honor the resilience of the Black community and their history as enslaved Africans who were brought to this country to cultivate the land. We encourage you to take part by learning more about how U.S. agriculture was transformed by the sweat equity of Black and Indigenous Americans, and how that structure persists today. Here is just a snapshot of the many resources available: 👩🏾🌾Take part in promoting and enhancing the prominence, profitability, and sustainability of Black Americans in agriculture across all sectors by working with Freedmen Heirs Foundation. 👩🏾🌾Learn about current advocacy and initiatives by visiting www.blackfarmers.org. 👩🏾🌾Explore a region-by-region listing of Black farms to connect to Black agriculturists through Black Farmers Index.

Today is ‘World Day to Combat Desertification & Drought’. Desertification is the continuous degradation of dryland ecosystems, and it is primarily caused by modern conventional farming methods that leave the soil bare and exposed to the elements. In dry climates, bare soil quickly dries, cracks, and hardens, literally transforming into desert that is impermeable to water and cannot support life. More than a third of the world’s human population lives in these drylands, which cover almost half of Earth’s land area. Estimates indicate that nearly 10% of these dryland ecosystems have already been desertified! And so we must #FarmLikeTheWorldDependsOnIt to stop the trend and reverse the damage. 🌱 Regenerative organic practices offer a holistic approach to farming that mimics nature's diverse polyculture and enhances soil health. 🦬 Keeping soil covered and with a living root system through rotational grazing multi-species cropping is crucial for improving soil health. This is one of the key factors for combating desertification! ☀️ Vegetation lowers surface and air temperatures by cooling the environment through evaporation and transpiration, also called evapotranspiration. 🌧️ Increasing soil organic matter to enhances the soil's water infiltration and retention, which is crucial for sustaining life in the soil and for preventing a desert of rock hard dirt. The water capacity of well-structured, covered soils far surpasses that of the world's largest dams!

Like all transformative movements in the world, one of the most crucial ways to advance regenerative organic agriculture is education. Education provides the perspectives and skills that can drive positive change, while cultivating conversation and spreading a greater awareness. We are thrilled to share that the Rodale Institute- one of the ROA's three founders - is now offering their virtual campus courses for free and available in 14 different languages! 👇Topics for the courses include 👇 🛍️Being a Regenerative Consumer: The essentials you need to know about regenerative organic food and farming to have a positive impact on yourself and the planet. 🌾Transition to Certified Organic Agriculture: A guide for successful organic farming! 🚜Rodale Institute Annual Virtual Field Day: Explore a regenerative organic farm virtually and learn about a wide variety of research and demonstration projects, all focused on organic agriculture. 🐝Hobby Beekeeping: A holistic approach at home apiary management and the inner workings of a hive. To view the courses and sign up visit Rodale Institute’s Virtual Campus online at: https://lnkd.in/gcHKWu4z Rodale Institute