The 6 problems you get from asking consumers about regen ag

They recognise it but don’t truly understand it. A new report from the EIT Food Consumer Observatory​ conducted in 17 European countries provides a unique insight into consumer attitudes towards regenerative agriculture.

Most, for example, believe that foods produced this way are healthier than the products they usually consume. There is an appetite to learn more, and consumers want to understand regenerative agriculture better.

But some problems stand out:

Consumers confuse regen ag with organic

According to the report, consumers recognise that for agriculture to be regenerative, biodiversity needs to be promoted through things like crop rotation, chemical pollution needs to be limited and farming processes need to be as natural as possible, including limiting the use of machines, and letting foods grow at a slower, natural rate.

But many consumers who believe they know about regenerative agriculture are synonymously thinking about organic agriculture. For them, regenerative agriculture is difficult to differentiate from organic agriculture.

Why is this a problem? For one, it means shoppers equate the term with a price premium. According to Lucy Wallace, director of global relations at EIT Food, this is a potential barrier for regenerative agriculture to continue to grow and become a more prominent and sustainable approach to farming and food production.

Speaking with AgTechNavigator​, she said: “A lot of the benefits of regen ag haven’t been well communicated to consumers.”

Other experts warn that regen ag risks becoming indistinguishable from organic​. The fear is that because organic farming eliminates the use of chemical fertilisers (compared to regen ag’s prescription of moderating their use) the practice will prove incapable of producing enough at scale to feed a growing global population.