The belief that you should always know what you’re putting into your body is the founding principle of Ritual – and that doesn’t stop at the ingredients we use. Part of our traceability promise is sharing the supplier names and final place of manufacturing for our active and other ingredients. This work helps deliver high quality ingredients, but can also have positive impacts for people and the planet. Using pea protein sourced through regenerative farming practices is one of the ways we do this.

What Is Regenerative Agriculture?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that industrial farming accounted for 11.2% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2020. In its white paper, Regenerative Agriculture and the Soil Carbon Solution, the Rodale Institute details that agriculture production systems and arable land misuse have degraded approximately 75% of the Earth’s land areas over time. (1)

Conventional farming practices often rely on pesticides and fertilizers, and when soil erodes, these chemicals get washed into streams and waterways, further impacting freshwater and marine habitats and the local communities that depend on them. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) broadly defines regenerative agriculture as a “philosophy and approach to land management [that asks us] to think about how all aspects of agriculture are connected through a web – a network of entities who grow, enhance, exchange, distribute, and consume goods and services – instead of a linear supply chain.”

What Are Some Regenerative Farming Practices?

There is no legal definition for regenerative farming, but rather, a deep understanding that traditional practices can be used in favor of chemicals, synthetics, or machinery to improve soil health and diversify ecosystems for decades to come. Generally speaking, there are seven different factors that make up a regenerative practice, and farmers leverage these strategies to varying degrees. Below, we discuss some of the most commonly used practices.

Cover Cropping

After a farmer harvests their cash crop (the one that makes them money), soil nutrients are diminished. In conventional farming, this is where synthetic fertilizers and chemical herbicides come into play, but in regenerative agriculture, farmers might plant cover crops that work to replenish the soil health between growing seasons. (1) These crops help protect the soil from erosion and nutrient loss, help control weeds, pests, and diseases, and enhance water availability and biodiversity on the farm. (2)

Intentional Rotational Grazing

When left on the same patch of land, animals can quickly destroy and deplete the soil on which they live. Rotational grazing is the practice of containing and moving animals through pasture to improve soil, plant, and animal health. The animals have a rotating grazing patch while the remainder of the pasture rests, allowing forage plants to recover and deepen their root systems. (1,5)

No-Till Farming

Tillage means digging up, turning over, or agitating the soil with mechanical tools like a plow or disc. Farmers do this to help break up soil compaction, eliminate weeds, and incorporate cover crops for boosted soil fertility. While these are important effects, tillage also leaves soil open to erosion, destroys vital fungal networks underground, and removes carbon from the soil. Organic no-till farming uses a variety of methods, such as cover crops, crop rotation, hand tools, or special tractor implements like the roller crimper, which creates a weed-suppressing mat in just one pass that crops can grow through. (2)

Composting

When kitchen scraps, farm and crop residues, manure, and yard waste decompose, it creates nutrient-dense compost that can be mixed back into farming soils or gardens, providing food for soil microbes and creating richer, more diverse soils and crops. Conventional farmers rely on synthetic fertilizers to offer the same effect, so as a practice, composting reduces chemical runoff, protects waterways, crops, and animals, and improves soil health. (1)

Reduced or No-Fossil Fuel-Based Inputs

Regenerative farming is rooted in practices that stay as close to nature as possible. Using very little or no fossil fuel-based inputs means leveraging other natural systems to help manage pests and reduce or eliminate the use of chemical pesticides or fertilizers. (1,2)

Let’s Talk About Its Impact on the Environment

Regenerative farming and ranching prioritizes soil health and biodiversity, working with nature rather than against it. (1) Indigenous communities have been farming this way for centuries, so it’s important to know that this isn’t a newly evolved philosophy but rather a way of farming that has diminished over the decades as fertilizers, herbicides, and machinery worked to increase output and profit for conventional farmers. The known benefits of regenerative farming include improving soil health and diversity, carbon sequestration, reduced soil erosion and depletion, fewer water pollutants, and, ultimately, a positive impact on climate change. (1) Regenerative farming focuses on the actual improvements to soil health and the overall quality and health of the land, including the soil, water, plants, and humans. Regenerative farmers are often described as land stewards, taking responsibility not just for the health of the soil but its longevity too. (2,3)

You might be wondering how this differs from organic farming. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defined “organic” as a production system in 2002, setting forth a list of regulations for farmers to adhere to in order for food to be labeled as such. While the organic designation refers to how food is grown, and specifically what pesticides are banned or allowed, it doesn’t address the health of the land or if it’s improving. A new term, regenerative organic, refers to organic food grown according to practices focused on improving the soil and its health. (3)

Ritual’s Pea Protein & Environmental Standards

“Safety and sustainability is always top of mind for Ritual – that’s why we chose regenerative peas sourced from North America for our Essential Protein,” Ritual’s Chief Impact Officer, Lindsay Dahl, explains. “We knew conventional peas grown in places like China had an increased risk of heavy metal exposure, and when we analyzed the climate impacts of sourcing peas, we found the traditional whey protein powders were approximately nine times more carbon-intensive”.

Ritual partners with PURIS to source the organic pea protein in our Essential Protein. PURIS works with farms across North America that utilize practices like cover cropping and crop diversity to support soil health and capture carbon from the atmosphere. Sourcing our pea protein from these farms can not only be beneficial to us but beneficial to the planet. In fact whey protein† has approximately 9x the carbon emissions than Ritual’s pea protein, and the peas in our protein are carbon negative, which contributes to our relatively low overall footprint of the product.

† Whey comparable used same formulation of Ritual 18+ formula but subbed in animal derived ingredients.

We know the fight against climate change can feel overwhelming, but at Ritual, we believe every step forward is impactful. By choosing our sustainably sourced organic pea protein, not only are you choosing a clean, science-backed protein powder, you are, in turn, supporting regenerative farming and the positive outcomes that come with it.

References:

1. Jeff Moyer, Andrew Smith, PhD, Yichao Rui, PhD, Jennifer Hayden, PHD. “Regenerative Agriculture and the Soil Carbon Approach.” Accessed August 15, 2023.
2. Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC). “Regenerative Agriculture 101.” Accessed August 15, 2023.
3. “What Is the Difference between Organic and Regenerative Agriculture?” Noble Research Institute, 19 Aug. 2021.
4. Azarbad H. Conventional vs. Organic Agriculture-Which One Promotes Better Yields and Microbial Resilience in Rapidly Changing Climates? Front Microbiol. 2022 Jun 9;13:903500. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.903500. PMID: 35814715; PMCID: PMC9261957.
5. “Regenerative Agriculture- the Solution.” PURIS Foods.