Cal Poly’s Initiative for Climate Leadership and Resilience (ICLR) is excited to announce the launch of its Collective Regeneration program in partnership with Zero Foodprint (ZFP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to regenerating agricultural soils.
Zero Foodprint (ZFP) flips the farm-to-table movement on its head by working table-to-farm to increase adoption of climate-smart agriculture. Zero Foodprint offers local businesses an effortless way to take meaningful climate action in the food system by enabling customers to contribute an optional 1% fee at the point of sale. The money raised is provided to farms and ranches for implementing regenerative practices. ZFP is a James Beard Humanitarian award-winning nonprofit recently named the “most innovative company in agriculture” by Fast Company and works with more than 200 businesses nationwide to play a pivotal role in reducing carbon emissions, improving soil health and contributing to long-term decarbonization of the food system.
What is Regenerative Agriculture?
Regenerative agriculture is an approach to land management that prioritizes soil health through a set of practices such as compost application, crop rotation, cover cropping, rotational grazing, hedgerow planting and reduced tilling, among others. In 2022, the UN warned that 90% of topsoil will likely be at risk of degradation by 2050, inspiring the global regenerative agriculture movement. Healthy soil can hold 50-66% more carbon than soil degraded by conventional land management practices, enough to offset about 12% of California’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions. That’s equivalent to taking nearly 11 million cars off the road!
Regenerative agriculture offers many benefits: increases in soil fertility, microbial activity, water holding capacity and biodiversity, each contributing to lower soil erosion, nutrient runoff and greenhouse gas emissions. These benefits enhance long-term ecological and economic resilience for farmers. Zero Foodprint’s innovative funding model supports these efforts by connecting everyday consumers with the farmers who grow their food.
How To Get Involved
A Zero Foodprint campaign called “Unfork the Planet” is happening from April 21-27 in San Luis Obispo, encouraging restaurants to feature a climate-smart or low-waste dish for one week and contribute a portion of the sales from that dish to the Restore Grant fund, which supports farmers.
If employed in a local restaurant, the campaign can be used as an opportunity to “test drive” the Zero Foodprint program and see if it is a good fit. Participating businesses also receive promotional support from ZFP to communicate about their involvement.
Local restaurants can be asked to participate or can be nominated by patrons to join at zerofoodprint.org/encourage.
A Call to Action for San Luis Obispo’s Food Community
ICLR invites San Luis Obispo County businesses to participate in this transformative movement. Supporting the local food economy benefits every person who grows food, every person who sells food, and every person who eats food. The regenerative agriculture transition has a role for everyone to play.
For more information about “Unfork the Planet” or how to become a partner, visit https://www.zerofoodprint.org/