Opinion piece argues regenerative farming often just rebrands organic practices

In an opinion article, Nuno Mamede Santos, founder of Terracrua Design and the Instituto de Planeamento Regenerativo, argues that most practices marketed today as "regenerative agriculture" are essentially organic farming rebranded, tracing a genealogy from Steiner, Fukuoka, Yeomans, Holmgren and Savory to Joel Salatin. He cites studies, including one from Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems and analyses by the New Climate Institute and FAIRR, showing large agribusiness and pesticide companies adopt the label without measurable targets or structural change. He proposes soil organic carbon, water infiltration and reduced external inputs, not vocabulary, as the real test of whether a system is genuinely regenerative.