As a mother, in order to provide healthier food to our families, I believe we need to meet farmers where they’re at
As a mother, my deepest instinct is to nourish my children with the healthiest food possible. That’s why we live the way we do — on land, with our own dairy herd, our own beef, and our own vegetable garden. I want nothing to do with the chemicals that dominate our current food system. I don’t want them in our bodies or our water, and I understand why so many decision-makers and advocates are calling for regenerative organic to become the standard. In many ways, my heart agrees.
But my practical side, as a farmer and entrepreneur, sees something more complex.
The organic movement — despite decades of effort — has grown relatively slowly. Today, certified organic farmland still accounts for just 0.7 percent of all U.S. agricultural land. Compare that with the reach of regenerative leaders like Allen Williams and Gabe Brown, whose work has directly influenced practices on more than 50 million acres. That’s 10 to 15 times more land than what’s currently certified organic. Farmers are voting with their actions. They are willing to make incremental transitions when they’re supported, understood, and not forced to take on all the risk alone.
That’s why, if we want real, large-scale change in our agricultural system, we must meet farmers where they’re at.
Programs like Regenified do exactly that. From the very beginning, farmers receive a certification that reflects the direction they’re moving — not just where they’ve arrived. This gives consumers the opportunity to support that transition with their dollars. The liability and cost of change is no longer resting solely on the farmer. Instead, it’s shared between the producer and those of us who hold the ideals of regeneration, health and a cleaner food system. That shared commitment is what makes real change possible.
This isn’t greenwashing. Regenified includes real soil testing and mandates measurable progress every three years — less chemical input, more biodiversity, more microbiology. That’s what makes regeneration beautiful — like life, regeneration is about growth over time. We don’t build anything meaningful in a day. Farmers across the country, including in large-scale and conventional systems, are making these shifts. Let’s not lose the ground we’re gaining by insisting on a perfect ideal that’s simply unrealistic for most farmers right now.
And we also need to be honest. There are so many mothers like me who deeply desire organic produce for our children. But unless we make it feasible for American farmers to grow it, we’ll keep outsourcing those values to far-off places — countries with cheaper hourly labor and often weaker or inconsistent oversight. Just flip over many of the “organic” products in your grocery cart. Look at the back. How many ingredients are sourced from China? From Mexico? Can we truly trust those certification systems? Do we really know what we’re feeding our families?
The truth is, under USDA organic rules, farmers here must follow organic practices for three full years before they can even apply for full certification. That’s three years of doing the right thing — often at enormous financial cost — with no price premium and no recognition. Because of this, we keep buying imported “organic” food, while our own farmers can’t afford to make the transition. Wouldn’t it be better to know that a farmer here in the U.S. is in transition, headed in the right direction, even if they’re not all the way there yet? Wouldn’t we rather support a system that rewards progress — real, measurable, domestic progress — instead of a label that may just be comforting us with the illusion of purity?
And for the first time in government, it seems like there’s a genuine interest in getting chemicals out of our food. That is a powerful and important shift — and we must support it. But we also need those leading this movement to have a clear understanding of the boots on the ground — of what American farmers and their families are actually facing. If we want a new agricultural paradigm to take hold, it must be a coalition of consumers, policymakers, and the people who grow our food. Each has a role to play. None can do it alone.
Let the consumers support the farmers. Let the farmers make changes incrementally, but powerfully. No one should have to risk everything. What we need is a clear, supported pathway forward — one field, one season, one decision at a time.
It’s easy — and emotionally satisfying — to declare “no more Roundup,” “no more chemicals,” “no more compromise.” I understand that cry. I feel it deeply as a mother. And that’s how I choose to live and spend. But if we want a systemic shift, we need a wide enough on-ramp for more than just a handful of idealists and early adopters. We need to create a soft landing for conventional and large-scale farmers who want to do the right thing but cannot afford to gamble everything to get there.
Dogmatic thinking won’t get us to the future we all want. If we demand an all-or-nothing leap into regenerative organic certification, we risk alienating the very people whose participation is essential for change. The truth is: if we want real transformation, we need to cast a wider net.
So, let’s not squander this moment. For the first time in decades, it feels like there’s real momentum — real possibility — for change in how we grow food in America. But we have to be wise in how we proceed. Let’s create a path that invites farmers in, supports them during the transition, and rewards them for every step forward.
Just my two cents — from a mother, a homesteader, and a farmer.
Mollie Engelhart is the author of Debunked by Nature: How a Vegan-Chef-Turned-Regenerative-Farmer Discovered that Mother Nature is Conservative (debunkedbynature.com).
