Regenerative agriculture’s potential to solve multiple global food system challenges is gaining in prominence. While definitions of regenerative agriculture (regen) can vary, it generally prioritizes the restoration of soil health and ecosystem function, which can lead to greater climate resilience, improved water quality, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and social benefits such as improved welfare of farmers and land stewards.^1,2 Additionally, a growing body of evidence points to the potential of regenerative agriculture to also support human nutrition and health by producing more nutritious food.^3,4,5

However, there are many challenges to achieving consensus on the evidence for how regen relates to human nutrition and health. First, the adoption of regen practices should vary based on context-specific soil needs, and can include a mix of no or minimal tillage, cover cropping, hedgerows, integrated livestock systems, increasing plant and animal species diversity on farms, and composting, among others.6 Second, in addition to essential micronutrients and macronutrients, there is growing interest in a larger number of bioactive compounds (e.g., phytonutrients), which increases the complexity of the food composition analyses required in research. Added to the heterogeneity of regen practices and multiple nutrients and bioactives is the large number of external variables (e.g., soil type, climactic conditions, species genotype, analytical techniques) that must be adequately assessed to ascertain the impact of regen practices on the nutritional quality of food. Nonetheless, establishing a scientific consensus on the state of the evidence on regen’s impact on human nutrition has the potential to support future policy and research decision-making, and to support the role of regen in more nutritious and resilient food systems. 

The Standing Together for Nutrition Consortium (ST4N), with financial support by the Rockefeller Foundation, is leading an effort to convene leading multi-disciplinary experts to drive consensus on the evidence for how regenerative agricultural practices can impact human nutrition through food. The findings will be valuable for funders, policymakers and researchers, offering guidance on how these practices can contribute to nutrition targets. 

This project has four aims: