Stories of Regeneration

Stories of Regeneration

Celebrating Canadian regenerative farmers for digging into new solutions to mitigate climate change, restore biodiversity and support healthy communities.

Right under our feet, living soils enable us to regenerate ecosystems, replenish waterways, and mitigate climate change. In Canada, many farmers are implementing regenerative practices that go beyond sustainability and allow them to promote resiliency in our communities while protecting our planet and ensuring healthy food systems for all.

In the summer of 2023, our team visited numerous farmers across Canada, capturing their diverse voices while exploring the changing landscapes and engaging with local communities through farm events. To share the highlights of our visits, we’ve created a series of short films, podcast interviews, articles, and a photo gallery.

Dive into our resources and discover how regenerative practices are transforming landscapes, communities, and our relationship with food. Whether you’re directly involved in agriculture or simply interested in learning more about regenerative practices, this resource collection offers valuable insights into the future of farming in Canada.

10 Short films

10 Podcast episodes

8 Farm events

FEATURED FARMS

WEBINARS

🎥 Regenerating relationships: Humans, ecosystems, and the food we eat

Michael Bomford | Philip Loring | Angel Beyde

There is an inherent relationship between people, land, and our food systems. On November 22nd, we launched the Stories of Regeneration webinar series with an illuminating discussion of how we might strengthen our collective relationship with the landscape, our food, and each other.

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🎥 Regenerating the planet: Soil and agroecosystem management to mitigate climate change

Rébeka Frazer-Chiasson | Vincent Bolduc | Marie-Élise Samson | Isabelle Marquis

On World Soil Day – December 5th – we delved into the world of living soils, regenerative agriculture, and its potential as a climate solution. Panelists discussed the importance of soil health in the context of climate change adaptation and mitigation, and how crop and livestock management impact our soils.

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🎥 Regenerating the market: Direct-to-consumer models connecting farmers and families

Tannis Axten | Rachel Lightfoot | Sheena Russell | Isabelle Marquis

In this webinar, we explored how to localize supply chains and improve transparency to create more regenerative, regionally-rooted food systems. We heard from two farmers and a food industry entrepreneur who are actively working to implement new approaches in their communities.

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🎥 Regenerating ourselves: Mental and physical health in agriculture

Aaron Godard | Carly Godard | Zsofia Mendly-Zambo | Angel Beyde

Farmer well-being is critical to developing a regenerative food system in Canada. With this webinar, we explored how agriculture impacts farmers’ health and how we, as consumers, can better understand the root causes and the solutions that can address these concerns.

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🎥 Regenerating nutrition: Healthy soils for nutritious food

Craig Cameron | Dr. Fred Provenza | Shawna Lyons | Angel Beyde

Over the last several decades, the focus on the nutrient density of foods has been replaced by the pursuit of higher yields and maximized production systems, leading to poorly managed soils and chronic illnesses associated with sub-optimal nutrition. In this webinar, we explored how regenerative food production is healthier for the soil, people and the planet.

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🎥 Regenerating our roots: Building community and honouring culture through food

Sun Shan | Emily Morris | Angel Beyde

In this conversation, we explored the relationships between food sovereignty, regenerative agriculture, biodiversity conservation, and community building and how the speakers put these concepts into practice. We then looked at how growing culturally significant crops and reconnecting with land through plants can empower our communities.

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PODCAST SERIES

Regeneration Canada has partnered with Rural Routes to Climate Solutions to present a 10-part podcast series exploring why we, as a society, need to get behind a regenerative system of agriculture that is determined to leave the land and ecosystems better off than when we found them.

- LISTEN TO THE PODCAST -

10 PRINCIPLES OF REGENERATIVE LAND MANAGEMENT

Understanding the Context in Regenerative Agriculture

As humans, our actions are influenced by many factors, including our environment, community, and financial circumstances. In regenerative landscape management, understanding context begs questions like: Does the crop choice match the growing climate? Who is involved in the farming operation? Being aware of the context in which an agro-landscape is managed can help us recognize obstacles or opportunities for improvement.

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Integrating Livestock and Ensuring their Well-Being in Regenerative Agriculture

In regenerative agriculture, animal welfare extends beyond the basics of low-stress handling and general care, but rather involves keeping livestock on the land whenever possible, requires careful timing, adapted infrastructure and the selection of breeds that will fit the environment. This symbiotic relationship between the land and animals produces happier and healthier animals, and more nutrient dense food.

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Keeping the Soil Covered: A Regenerative Agriculture Principle

Keeping the soil covered allows for favourable conditions for microorganisms to thrive. Covering soil also helps regulate soil temperature and protects against wind and water erosion. Cover crops are common soil covers, where non-commercial crops are planted to anchor valuable topsoil, fix nitrogen, build soil organic matter, and retain soil water.

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Minimize Soil Disturbance

Plowing and turning over soil disrupts critical functions of soil microbial and fauna communities, which play a significant role in making soils healthy, living ecosystems. Regenerative land management encourages practices like no-till, low-till, and implementing perennial plants to disrupt the soil as little as possible. Reducing tillage can minimize soil erosion, decrease the demand for chemical inputs, and foster more resilient agricultural systems.

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Maintaining Biodiversity in Regenerative Agriculture

Systems with greater diversity of soil organisms, plants and animals are more resilient. They tend to have superior soil fertility and respond better to stresses such as diseases, climatic extremes, human impacts and degradation. We encourage practices like crop rotation, integration of pollinator buffers, elimination of chemical controls like pesticides, and mixing crops and livestock.

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Reciprocity in Regenerative Agriculture

Making sure whatever we take is given back. Providing plants with macro and micronutrients using organic inputs restores the soil’s biological nutrient cycling abilities. Green manures, compost and animal manure are all great examples of organic materials that enhance the biological functions of soils. Also, natural materials should be used instead of synthetics whenever possible.

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Agroforestry & Living Roots

Perennials, trees, shrubs and other plants that grow back year after year, have more developed root systems than annual plants. This enables them to sequester more carbon, store more water, and sustain complex soil microbial communities throughout the seasons. Agroforestry involves integrating fruit and nut trees or trees for timber into agricultural systems and includes practices like windbreaks, alley cropping, and silvopasture.

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Protect & Restore Natural Ecosystems

Regenerative practices aim to preserve or reclaim habitats like peat bogs, wetlands, prairies and forests. These ecosystems play important roles in the maintenance of the water cycle, the purification of groundwater, sequestering carbon dioxide, cooling the air and protecting the diverse populations of plants and wildlife that inhabit them.

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Safeguarding Water Cycles

As 40% of the world faces water scarcity, good water management is a key part of regenerative agriculture. Effective irrigation, water collection infrastructure, and proper farm design are important for water conservation.

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Prioritize social justice, food sovereignty, and economic viability

A truly regenerative agricultural system advocates for fair labour conditions for everyone involved- farmers, farm labourers, processors and consumers, to name a few. In order to prevent extreme disparities, discrimination and social inequality, a regenerative food system advocates and creates space for all voices to be heard and participate in decision-making at all levels of government.

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PHOTO GALLERY

We want to give a special thanks to everyone who joined us for our farm-to-table events this summer and share some photographic memories of our cross-Canada tour for all to enjoy!

- BROWSE THE GALLERY -

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Regeneration Canada's main office is located on unceded Indigenous lands. The Kanien’kehá:ka are recognized as the custodians of these lands and waters. Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal is known as a historic gathering place for many Indigenous peoples.

Regeneration Canada is committed to taking action to regenerate land and water while acknowledging and respecting Indigenous knowledge that ensures thriving for all beings.

We are dedicated to continuously educating ourselves and the communities we serve about the true history of this place.