double that of a 14-acre organic control crop. As an organic farm, the company already had trouble meeting cosmetic specifications. Now, with regenerative practices, the proliferation of beneficial bugs like syrphid flies and green lacewings found their way into the packaged produce. “Products were rejected at docking stations because they found ladybugs in the boxes,” Leigh Prezkop tells The Rooted Journal. Prezkop is the senior program specialist for food waste at World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which works to reduce humanity’s impact on the environment and reform the food system. The organization highlights this challenge in the seventh installment of its report series “No Food Left Behind,” which seeks to understand how an estimated 10 million tons of specialty crops — roughly a third of what’s grown in the United
73% decline in monitored wildlife population sizes since 1970. Agriculture consumes a staggering 44% of the planet’s habitable land and, along with food processing and production, accounts for a third of greenhouse gases.
rejecting chemical pesticides and fertilizers, among other practices. Some growers try to directly target biodiversity loss by cutting back
BRAGA OF Josie’s Organics, is a third-generation vegetable farm spread across 20,000 acres in California. Roughly 30 years ago, its owners made the bold move to transition their home ranch to organic, and today, 80% of the farm is certified organic by both the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and California Certified Organic Farmers. Out of a desire to further improve soil health and decrease greenhouse gas emissions, the company decided to take things to the next level: It began FRESH, THE HOME
The
Much of the habitable land is devoted to conventional farming practices like monocropping, a technique often used for corn and soy and which relies on synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides known to pollute soil and water. “We’re talking about wasted energy, wasted land, wasted water, wasted fertilizer,” Prezkop says. “It’s a root cause [of] biodiversity loss.” The 2024 report emphasized the need to scale “nature-positive” food production to reduce environmental harm. Regenerative agriculture, defined
on broad spectrum insecticides and increasing pollinator habitats, says Matt Jones, an ecologist who consults with WWF.“It’salsoimportantthatlandscapes have just unfarmed land — natural or semi-natural spaces,” Jones says. “You can be a small organic farmer who’s got pollinator hedgerows throughout the entire thing, but if you’re in an absolute biological desert of conventional farms with no native habitat, it’s going to be really hard to foster that biodiverse community that you want.” Beyond regen-
Fix
by Laura Mallonee
trialing regenerative agriculture practices with sweet baby broccoli and cilantro in 2020. Braga Fresh modified tractors to till at a shallower
A NEW WORLD WILDLIFE FUND REPORT EXPLORES SOLUTIONS FOR GLOBALLY GROWN CROPS DESTINED TO ROT.
Food
depth and reduced the number of times they passed through the field, minimizing soil disturbances. The company also planted Sudan grass, switchgrass, and Merced Rye between the crop rows to attract beneficial insects, improve water filtration, and absorb and sequester carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). While the company is not yet Regenerative Organic Certified, it is actively practicing regenerative agriculture on 70 acres — and seeing a positive environmental impact. Soil measurements revealed an 8% increase in the microbiome, the underground community of bacteria, fungi, and protozoa that help cycle nutrients. Forty-nine new microbial species have appeared since the trials began. Carbon monitoring also showed the soil is now storing up to 1,000 pounds of CO 2 — the equivalent of 504 pounds of coal burned — per acre. But there have been challenges. A 14- acre crop of sweet baby broccoli grown with reduced tillage and companion planting had a 3% loss rate, almost
States — never gets harvested. Instead, Prezkop says, those crops are tilled back into the soil or left to rot on site
as an organic- based “collection of practices that focus on regenerating soil health and the full
erative agriculture’s ecological benefits,
a growing body of evidence suggests a compelling financial case for adopting
Waste
it, though transitioning isn’t easy. During the first five years, farmers can experience revenue losses due to lower yields and higher seed and machinery costs. But one 30-year
or in a landfill. The latest report explores this problem within regenerative agriculture, an eco-friendly method that could be better for farmers’ bottom lines if the kinks can be ironed out. “We’re surprised that there’s still a lack of focus on [food] loss when we’re talking about regenerative systems,” Prezkop says. “How can we talk about regen- erative systems without talking about the fact that we still have upwards of 40% of waste and loss happening on farms?” Last year, WWF’s Living Planet Report
study of no-till farming showed that yields can improve over time. Another study involving regenerative wheat farming in Kansas found the method has the potential to increase profits as much as 120% above those of conventional farming, resulting in a 15% to 25% return on investment over 10 years. Still, scaling regenerative agriculture will have limited impact if farmers can’t figure out food loss. WWF estimates that as much as 40% of all food produced globally, about 2.7 billion tons, gets
farm ecosystem” by the Regenerative Organic Alliance, aligns with that goal. In January 2025, California adopted a broader definition that includes conventional farms and focuses on eight target outcomes, including building soil health and maintaining farmers’ and ranchers’ economic livelihoods. Regenerative agriculture
found that food production is the primary driver of wildlife habitat loss and that it has fueled an average
Fresh Del Monte gives regenerative farming a try in their banana fields. Opposite, from top: “Organic Produce May Contain Lady Bugs & Friends.” Tillage at Shepherd’s Grain.
can include cover cropping, crop rotation, low or no tillage, composting, and
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