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Content disclaimer: AI was used to synthesize the content generated in this workshop. Accuracy not guaranteed. Transparency is.
Vision 2035
What Does a Thriving Future Look and Feel Like for Regenerative Agriculture?
Vision 2035
What Does a Thriving Future Look and Feel Like for Regenerative Agriculture?
(Draft - AI generated synthesis)
(Draft - AI generated synthesis)
“By 2035, California leads a regenerative renaissance where healthy soils build healthy people and prosperous communities — a living system that is equitable, diverse, and designed to leave the land better than we found it."
Purpose / Intention
Purpose / Intention
By 2035, California’s agricultural lands are living ecosystems that nourish people, prosperity, and planet alike. Regenerative Agriculture has become the dominant model of land stewardship—rooted in soil health, equity, and local resilience. The future is one where small and mid-sized farmers and ranchers thrive economically while leaving the land healthier each year. Communities enjoy access to nutrient-dense, affordable food grown in ways that rebuild biodiversity and carbon in the soil. In this vision, California leads the nation in regenerative acreage and policy innovation, bridging progressive and conservative values around the shared desire to “make America healthy again.”
Core Narrative
Core Narrative
Participants described a future in which Regenerative Ag is no longer a niche movement but the standard for how land is managed—spanning croplands, rangelands, and watersheds. Half of California’s acreage is actively managed through soil-building practices that enhance water retention, pollinator habitat, and carbon storage. Corporate monopolies in processing and distribution have been decentralized, creating thriving regional economies and fairer markets for independent producers. Agroecology and Traditional Ecological Knowledge inform policy and practice, ensuring that diversity—of species, people, and cultures—drives resilience. Regenerative is clearly defined yet flexible, allowing many pathways toward the same goal of restoring cycles of life and wealth to the land.
This thriving future feels verdant, abundant, and reciprocal. It feels like trust between farmers and consumers; like water so clean that children can swim in irrigation ditches; like local markets buzzing with color and flavor. It feels like power shared rather than concentrated, and like policy that rewards care over extraction. The ethic is simple: leave the land and the system better than we found them.
Illustrative Examples and Principles
Illustrative Examples and Principles
Equity and Fairness: Small farmers and ranchers have stable markets, long-term leases, and access to capital; marginalized producers are fully included in the regenerative economy.
Healthy Soil = Healthy People: Nutrient-dense foods and clean water flow from carbon-rich soils.
Decentralized Processing: The power of a few meat and produce giants is replaced by regional co-ops and producer hubs.
Biodiversity and Holism: Farms and ranches function as ecosystems, not factories; ecological cycles are restored and valued.
Wide Tent Approach: Regenerative certification (e.g., CCOF-equivalent) is codified and adaptable, inviting transition at every scale.
Intergenerational Wealth: Land stewardship builds legacy and security for future generations.
Consumer Understanding: Public awareness of Regenerative Ag is widespread and backed by policy and market support.
Climate Restoration: Agriculture is recognized as a climate solution, actively reversing adverse impacts.
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Part 2: Challenges & Opportunities
Part 2: Challenges & Opportunities
(Draft - AI generated synthesis)
(Draft - AI generated synthesis)
“Regenerative agriculture’s greatest challenge is coherence—aligning definitions, data, and values into pathways that turn shared intention into shared outcomes, widening the tent without losing the thread.”
Purpose / Intention
Purpose / Intention
The purpose of identifying these challenges is to reveal where regenerative agriculture most needs clarity, collaboration, and courage. Participants recognized that the obstacles are not merely technical—they are relational, linguistic, and systemic. The group’s goal is to find leverage points where small shifts in alignment, definition, or economics can unlock large-scale transformation. Each challenge is an invitation to coordinate across sectors and reframe regeneration as a shared journey rather than a competitive ideology.
Core Narrative
Core Narrative
The most persistent barrier lies in fragmentation: limited resources pit allies against one another, even when they share the same soil-deep values. Diverse definitions of “regenerative agriculture” create confusion among policymakers, producers, and the public, while certification debates risk excluding rather than expanding participation. The movement faces a “boiling the ocean” dilemma—addressing too many complex, systemic issues without a clear map of which levers create meaningful progress.
Participants emphasized the need to balance complexity with coherence—to create unified yet flexible frameworks tied to inclusive outcomes. Regenerative agriculture must evolve beyond slogans to measurable, economically viable pathways for change. This means grounding lofty values (like health and equity) in data, case studies, and market mechanisms that drive adoption. The shift from “values as rhetoric” to “values as design criteria” is essential for coherence, credibility, and scale.
Illustrative Examples & Opportunity Frames
Illustrative Examples & Opportunity Frames
Definitional Clarity: Develop a broad but “operationalizable” definition of regenerative agriculture, adaptable to context while maintaining core ecological and social principles.
Unified Metrics & Case Studies: Create data-driven stories linking practices to outcomes—soil health, biodiversity, water quality, farmer income—to bridge values and evidence.
Market Activation: Foster regenerative market ecosystems by highlighting economic benefits and supply-chain innovation. “Talk more economics” becomes a rallying cry.
Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS): Use peer verification and community accountability to democratize certification and reduce the cost barriers of formal programs.
Widening the Tent: Build inclusive language and flexible on-ramps that invite conventional and transitioning farmers, emphasizing learning over labeling.
Strategic Focus: Distinguish complex problems (requiring learning and networks) from complicated problems (requiring technical solutions) to allocate effort wisely.
Values-to-Pathways Integration: Translate values like equity, diversity, and health into actionable programs and measurable performance indicators.
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Key Interventions & Program Ideas
Key Interventions & Program Ideas
(Draft - AI generated synthesis)
(Draft - AI generated synthesis)
“Regenerative agriculture will thrive when the story, the scorecard, and the system align—when public awareness, transparent accountability, and values-based procurement work together to make regeneration the rule, not the exception.”
Purpose / Intention
Purpose / Intention
The Regenerative Agriculture group’s interventions focus on scaling both awareness and adoption. Their shared goal is to normalize regenerative practices by activating the cultural, political, and market systems that surround farmers—not by telling farmers what to do, but by creating demand, recognition, and reward for doing the right thing. The interventions aim to transform procurement policy, public perception, and professional education so that regenerative farming becomes economically rational, socially admired, and institutionally embedded.
Core Narrative
Core Narrative
Participants agreed that the path to transformation lies not only in the soil but in the story and the system. Farmers need steady demand and fair prices; consumers need understanding and trust; institutions need clarity and accountability. The three priority interventions—a statewide media and education campaign, a regenerative rating and accountability system, and values-aligned procurement reform—work as a feedback loop: storytelling creates visibility, ratings create credibility, and procurement creates viability. Together they connect the dots between soil health, public health, and market health.
The group also surfaced complementary interventions that could enrich the ecosystem: revamping 4-H and FFA curricula to include regenerative content, developing food district scorecards, and conducting community voice projects to authentically represent farmers and impacted communities in decision-making. Each idea reinforces the principle of “widening the tent,” meeting producers, policymakers, and consumers where they are, while orienting everyone toward shared regenerative outcomes.
Illustrative Examples & Priority Initiatives
Illustrative Examples & Priority Initiatives
1️⃣ Education & Media Campaign for a Regenerative Future (7.5★)
A statewide initiative that humanizes the people and practices behind regeneration, blending storytelling with policy literacy.
Mass media & storytelling: Television, social media, and film campaigns profiling regenerative farmers, ranchers, and water stewards.
Legislator education: A companion outreach effort to brief policymakers on nutrient density, soil health, and economic co-benefits.
Food-as-a-right framing: Position nutrient-dense food as a public good—beginning with schoolchildren, elders, and patients in care systems.
2️⃣ Regenerative Rating & Accountability System (7★)
A transparent mechanism for measuring and communicating agricultural impact.
Tiered rating framework: “Regenerative = restorative,” “Sustainable = neutral,” “Conventional = extractive.”
Institutional alignment: Encourage universities, agencies, and buyers to adopt regenerative ratings for procurement and labeling.
Civic accountability: Public dashboards and district-level “food report cards” create community awareness and policy leverage.
3️⃣ Values-Aligned Procurement & Market Shifts (6.5★)
Direct large-scale purchasing toward regenerative suppliers to create predictable, long-term demand.
State & UC system procurement targets: Redirect institutional food budgets toward regenerative, nutrient-dense suppliers.
Corporate engagement: Work with major buyers (e.g., Walmart, hospital networks) to pilot regenerative sourcing.
Market signal: Align consumer messaging and institutional contracts so regenerative food becomes accessible and affordable—not premium and niche.
Supporting Ideas:
Revamp 4-H & FFA programs to include soil, biodiversity, and equity principles.
Participatory planning with farmers to clarify roles and decision-making frameworks.
Community storytelling & listening tours to keep lived experience at the center of policy and messaging.
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Working Group Sessions
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