Although not yet widely used in advertising, 2024 has seen increasing chatter around “regenerative farming”. As there is currently no legal or universally agreed definition of the term, it could be used in a wide-ranging way as a descriptor, likely with various possible interpretations. This article therefore offers some guidance on how to communicate your regenerative farming initiatives with confidence.
Taking the bull by the horns: what is regenerative farming?
Regenerative farming, regenerative agriculture - or simply ‘regen’ - was coined as far back as the 1980s, but whilst it has gained particular traction within the agricultural sector and food industry over the last ten years, average consumer understanding and awareness of the term remains relatively low. It’s typically articulated as an approach to farming that aims to be part of the solution to the climate crisis, because in theory, it allows the land, the soil, water and associated nutrients to effectively ‘regenerate’ or restore themselves.
Regenerative farming typically involves some mix of the following farming practices:
- Limiting soil disturbance
- Maintaining year-round soil cover
- Promoting biodiversity and crop rotations
- Keeping living roots in the soil
- Integrating livestock and arable systems
Not all ‘regenerative farmers’ will necessarily employ all of these practices, and nor does their use provide any guarantee of soil or nature restoration. Ultimately, regenerative farming is coalesced around both key actions taken (as outlined above), but also key outcomes, which are to do with the precise measurement of those actions taken. Critically, these outcomes go beyond agricultural productivity alone and encompass consideration of other natural resources and public goods such as biodiversity and water quality.
Cultivating compliance – do’s and don’ts
As above, consumer awareness and understanding of ‘regenerative farming’ is currently relatively low. To that end, to avoid misleading consumers advertisers must take care to avoid overclaiming when communicating their regenerative farming initiatives.
Ensure transparency by providing clarity around terminology & statistics
Claims around regenerative farming should ensure that they suitably clarify the basis for those claims and must always bear in mind the likely average consumer ‘take-out’ from them. For instance, if it is necessary in order to prevent consumers from being misled by a claim for regenerative farming, advertisers should clarify what farming tools, protocols or practices form the basis of the claim. Where claims include references to outcomes, it may be necessary to support consumers’ understanding of them by explaining how they are measured or benchmarked.
Related to this, claims are likely to be much more capable of objective substantiation, where they are based on actual outcomes, rather than on future projections. Advertisers are therefore strongly encouraged to speak about what they’ve done and are doing now, rather than what they plan to achieve in the future.
Avoid cherry-picking or tokenism
Advertisers should exercise caution in making general ‘regenerative’ claims if, for instance, they are only employing one or two of the farming practices outlined above. They must take care not to mislead consumers by exaggerating the extent or nature of any regenerative farming initiatives or practices they have in place.
For example, an advertiser that claims to be ‘regenerative’ on the basis of simply purchasing carbon or biodiversity credits alone, is very likely to be giving a misleading impression. Similarly, ‘regenerative’ claims that fail to take into account relevant environmental impacts beyond the farm gate, neglect to consider the whole lifecycle of a product or fail to acknowledge the ‘whole system’ approach in which the regenerative farming movement is rooted have a strong potential to mislead.
Avoid absolute claims
Absolute claims, such as “regenerative”, “nature-friendly” or “sustainable” within a food production context can only be used when they are supported by a very high level of substantiation.
Because there are so many metrics by which absolute claims such as these can be measured in a food-related context, even advertisers who use them in a conditional or comparative way run the risk of misleading consumers if their use is not suitably qualified or substantiated.
Similarly, advertisers should avoid making any promises or guarantees around ‘regeneration’ or ‘restoration’; as above, you’re more likely to be able to substantiate your claim if you talk about the journey that you’ve been on, or progress to date, as opposed to a planned for, but uncertain final destination.
Avoid misleading comparisons with other farming methods
Although there are plenty of parallels between regenerative farming and Organic farming principles – indeed, in many ways the two systems are very complimentary – there are nonetheless some fundamental differences at play, not least around the use of the herbicide glyphosate: some regenerative farmers favour its use to kill off weeds versus disturbing the soil with a plough; Organic standards strictly prohibit its use.
To that end, advertisers should take care to avoid conflating the two approaches in ways that are likely to mislead. Moreover, advertisers wishing to communicate their regenerative farming initiatives should avoid implying that regenerative farming carries any kind of formal or legal standard (unlike Organic, which does have legal status in the UK).
Avoid exaggerating environmental or animal welfare-related benefits
Finally, marketers should not claim that any animals raised within regenerative farming settings are better provided for than they actually are; similarly, claiming to use regenerative farming methods alone is typically not going to be enough to substantiate claims of a product’s positive environmental benefit; advertisers also need to bear the whole lifecycle of a product in mind before making any such claims.
Further help & reading
CAP is here to support advertisers of meat, dairy and plant-based products to speak about their environmental initiatives with confidence. For bespoke advice on any non-broadcast ads, the Copy Advice team is always here to help. Our recent Insight Article around environmental claims in food advertising can be found here, whilst a copy of our formal Environmental Guidance can also be found here.
CAP would like to extend its thanks to the various trade bodies, farming organisations and government officials who provided invaluable information and insight into regenerative farming in the UK for the purposes of this article.
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