First name:
Nat
Last name:
Irwin
Class Year:
2022
Advisor:
Maria Trumpler
Essay Abstract:
The objective of this study is to gain an understanding of the regenerative agriculture landscape in New Hampshire and Vermont, in terms of how “regenerative agriculture” is defined and perceived by practitioners, as well as how such agricultural practices are shaped and supported by state legislation. The bulk of this work is an ethnographic study around perceptions and implementation of regenerative agriculture in New Hampshire and Vermont. While I am interested in practioner definitions of regenerative agriculture, my central questions relate to who views regenerative agriculture as simply a set of practices and outcomes, and who perceives regenerative agriculture as a movement with an implicit set of social obligations.
From my interviews, I found that many of the climate-motivated actors were heavily focused on practices and outcomes, and were likely to embrace the regenerative term and movement. However, the practitioners who were motivated by social regeneration, community healing, and equity, in addition to climate change mitigation, were often critical of the current state of the movement. These farmers wished to see more explicit mention of social change in the definition and broader implementation of regenerative agriculture.
After completing my interviews, I turned to policy to explain why the “regenerative agriculture” term is significantly more prevalent in Vermont than in New Hampshire. By analyzing state Climate Action Plans, as well as Healthy Soil Policies, I found that Vermont had more established support mechanisms and economic opportunity for practitioners converting to regenerative systems. This seems to greatly influence the way that the regenerative movement is perceived and implemented in each state.