TY - JOUR
T1 - Healthy people, soils, and ecosystems
T2 - uncovering primary drivers in the adoption of regenerative agriculture by US farmers and ranchers
AU - Frankel-Goldwater, Lee
AU - Wojtynia, Niko
AU - Dueñas-Ocampo, Sebastián
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2024 Frankel-Goldwater, Wojtynia and Dueñas-Ocampo.
PY - 2024/1/8
Y1 - 2024/1/8
N2 - As regenerative agriculture grows in popularity, policy and decision-makers have become interested in its practices. Yet, little is known about those factors driving its adoption among farmers and ranchers. To better understand these drivers, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 31 farmers and ranchers across the United States (US) who self-identified as practitioners of regenerative agriculture. In doing so, we asked about relational values, which reflect one’s perspectives around the links between humans and nature. We also asked about economic and environmental drivers for adoption. In the analysis, we used qualitative coding to identify the range of values and factors driving adoption across our sample. We found that 1) improving the health of people, soils, and ecosystems - through farming practices and related social configurations - was a primary driver for adoption, 2) that relative economic privilege, particularly across two extremes - privileged idealism and less privileged necessity - correlated with most drivers for adoption, 3) that a shift away from industrial agriculture was at once a moral, economic, and environmental imperative for many practitioners, and 4) a systems view of social-ecological relationships was seen as a key to adoption and societal transitions. While our sample represents only a narrow segment of the regenerative agriculture movement in the US, our findings can serve as a useful starting point for understanding the drivers for its adoption. Our findings may also inform conversations on regenerative agriculture’s potential to support food-related sustainability transitions. The discussion situates our work amidst sustainable agriculture and social movement studies, questions of equity in food systems transitions, and the benefits of studying values in developing policy-relevant solutions.
AB - As regenerative agriculture grows in popularity, policy and decision-makers have become interested in its practices. Yet, little is known about those factors driving its adoption among farmers and ranchers. To better understand these drivers, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 31 farmers and ranchers across the United States (US) who self-identified as practitioners of regenerative agriculture. In doing so, we asked about relational values, which reflect one’s perspectives around the links between humans and nature. We also asked about economic and environmental drivers for adoption. In the analysis, we used qualitative coding to identify the range of values and factors driving adoption across our sample. We found that 1) improving the health of people, soils, and ecosystems - through farming practices and related social configurations - was a primary driver for adoption, 2) that relative economic privilege, particularly across two extremes - privileged idealism and less privileged necessity - correlated with most drivers for adoption, 3) that a shift away from industrial agriculture was at once a moral, economic, and environmental imperative for many practitioners, and 4) a systems view of social-ecological relationships was seen as a key to adoption and societal transitions. While our sample represents only a narrow segment of the regenerative agriculture movement in the US, our findings can serve as a useful starting point for understanding the drivers for its adoption. Our findings may also inform conversations on regenerative agriculture’s potential to support food-related sustainability transitions. The discussion situates our work amidst sustainable agriculture and social movement studies, questions of equity in food systems transitions, and the benefits of studying values in developing policy-relevant solutions.
KW - food systems
KW - health
KW - regenerative agriculture
KW - relational values
KW - social movements
KW - sustainability transitions
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85182715711&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fsufs.2023.1070518
DO - 10.3389/fsufs.2023.1070518
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85182715711
SN - 2571-581X
VL - 7
JO - Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
JF - Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
M1 - 1070518
ER -