Regenerative Agriculture for Whom? Producing and Consuming Agricultural Knowledge at The Land Institute

First name: 
Camden
Last name: 
Smithtro
Class Year: 
2022
Advisor: 
Mark Bomford
Essay Abstract: 
The term regenerative agriculture (RA) encompasses an agriculture focused on improving soil health and increasing carbon uptake. Among agriculturalists, however, RA is perceived as a greenwashing and marketing technique. The concept is critiqued for lack of scientific integrity and political passivity. The Land Institute (TLI), a prominent agricultural research center and nonprofit studying perennial grains, distances their research from RA while simultaneously gaining funding and recognition through their association with it. TLI’s interactions with RA demonstrate both a mainstream acceptance of their research, and their continued success in promoting a long-term holistic vision and producing accurate, nuanced representations of research progress. With the departure of TLI’s president and co-founder in 2016, as well as mounting criticisms of their vision’s apoliticism, TLI needs to champion a strong progressive political stance in their storytelling alongside their continued scientific specificity in order to avoid being swept up in RA’s greenwashing.