As Congress considers this year’s Farm Bill, they have a defining question to answer about the future of our food systems and the survival of our planet: Are we going to let food continue to contribute to the climate crisis or become a thriving climate solution?
The Farm Bill — which Congress passes every five years and is due for an update this fall — for the first time shows real momentum towards creating a more resilient food system. The package, which includes funding for nearly every aspect of the United States food system, historically prioritizes conventional agriculture.
While many details of the Farm Bill remain to be seen, this year climate activists are pushing for regenerative interventions that are worthy of bipartisan support, with healthy soil and farmers at the center. With farmers bearing the brunt of many adverse climate change impacts, the Farm Bill needs to address climate change as much as it does other problems in the industry and empower farmers to drive the solutions.
Farmers are not only the backbone of our country’s economy, they are also drivers of critical climate solutions like healthy soil, on-farm renewable energy and carbon sinks from crops. Farmers are the first defense in fighting the climate crisis. Many farmers have already experienced diminished yields, and the impacts could continue to worsen if we don’t act now.
The majority of agricultural practices today are “degenerative,” destroying natural systems that we need to survive. The way we grow the majority of our food is damaging our planet’s ecosystem, causing loss of topsoil and biodiversity, desertification and water and air pollution that negatively impacts our food systems and human health.
While “regenerative agriculture” may sound like an environmentalist buzzword, it’s actually an imperative way of thinking about how we can produce food in ways that will do more good than harm. Regenerative agriculture looks to not only stop damaging our ecosystem but to improve it. This type of agriculture focuses on improving soil health, removing carbon from our atmosphere, and using a variety of agricultural management practices in alignment with natural systems. Now we have the opportunity to transition agriculture from a major greenhouse gas contributor into a climate solution.
Regenerative agriculture is gaining popularity, with organizations like Kiss the Ground helping farmers and ranchers transition to regenerative practices and find both environmental and financial benefits — but we need political support. We need farmers, investors, business leaders and local and federal policymakers to come together to make this shift. We need to empower farmers with the resources, support and incentives they need to grow our food in ways that regenerate our planet and soil rather than continuing to destroy it.
Another bright light in momentum towards more sustainable agriculture is innovation in partnership with farmers. Innovation is often looked at with skepticism in established industries, but farmers are already innovating and driving new impactful climate solutions. Supporting innovation, research and development through the Farm Bill can accelerate important outcomes like curbing methane and reducing food waste.
Today technology is being used in new ways, not to replace farmers and food system workers, but to drive greater efficiencies that benefit us all. For example, the company Treasure8 is working with partners, growers and food processors to help them leverage technology to reduce food waste. For farmers and processors, this leads to cost savings. For food manufacturers, this helps get them healthier ingredients to get to more people at more affordable prices. When all participants in the value chain benefit, innovation isn’t a threat — it’s something to be embraced.
Investing in regenerative agricultural solutions shouldn’t be viewed as politically divisive or at odds with economic returns. It can benefit us all. We need strategic investments to accelerate this momentum. We need to invest in farmers and ranchers to unleash powerful, unique climate solutions that our planet and food systems need.
Tenzin Seldon is the founder and managing partner of Pulse Fund, a growth equity fund investing in breakthrough technologies with pillars such as energy, infrastructure, mobility and food and agriculture. Previously, Seldon co-founded The Plant, with the vision of creating a net-negative global home for climate solutions through the redevelopment and adaptive reuse of historic buildings.