Regeneration International Midwest Alliance

BY Regeneration International | Mar 09, 2018

The regeneration movement is taking root—in Mexico, in Guatemala, in Africa, in Belize, in India, in Panama, in Honduras and in the U.S. We’ll keep you up to date as Regeneration Alliances begin to take shape in various parts of the world.

But this month, we’d like to fill you in on exciting developments in the Midwest region of the U.S. Last month, RI and our partner organizations hosted a meeting at the MOSES Organic Farming Conference in La Crosse, Wisconsin, to gauge interest in forming a 12-state Regeneration Midwest Alliance in the heart of America’s “breadbasket.” (The 12-state region includes: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri). Our team showed up expecting some interest—only to be met by an enthusiastic crowd ready for a regeneration revolution! The coalition of RI partners, which included Main Street Project, Organic Consumers Association (OCA), Regenerate Nebraska and Midwest Organic Services Association(MOSA) presented a vision for what the Midwest could look like if we were to take a systems-change approach to redesigning the future of how our food is produced. We asked what the future of Midwest agriculture would look like if instead of food production being the underlying cause of economic, social and ecological destruction, we redesigned it to be the source of clean water, healthy soil, and a toxin-free environment.

What if family farms began to thrive again? What if agriculture became part of the climate solution, instead of a big contributor to the problem? For several hours we shared ideas for realizing our vision of a food system that builds resilient and prosperous farms while regenerating our economies and communities. “We’re learning more every day about how regenerative farmers and ranchers around the world are contributing to climate and food security by building soil health,” said Patrick Kerrigan, who represented OCA at the meeting. “The question is, how do we connect consumers who want to buy healthy local and regional foods with these farmers? And how do we build the systems infrastructure to ensure that these farmers are successful economically?” Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, chief strategy officer of Main Street Project, said:

“We presented this vision because we think a new system is possible. The overwhelmingly positive response has set in motion a plan for building a strong Regeneration Midwest Alliance that we believe will lead to widespread positive change for farmers, consumers and everyone who cares about health and the environment.”

Stay tuned for more news as the Regeneration Midwest Alliance prepares for lift-off!

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Watch this inspiring video from the Regeneration Midwest Alliance planning meeting (Watch on YouTube, or on Facebook).

Interested in learning more about the Regenerative Midwest Alliance? Emailinfo@regenerationinternational.org and please let us know your contact information, including state and zip code.

Want to know what’s happening in Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Africa, Panama or other parts of the world? Please send your contact information and region toinfo@regenerationinternational.org.

We’ll keep you up to date with the exciting and hopeful growth of the regeneration movement around the world.

To Regeneration,

The RI Team