Regeneration is not just about mud, dung and microbes. It’s about people too…
THINKING IN CIRCLES
As a society, for every dollar spent on food, we pay double in health, environmental and economic costs. This comes from the cultural push for short-term high-yield commodity production at any cost – a way of thinking that leaves the land bare.
To be truly ‘regenerative’ we need to think in a circular and renewable way, rather than a linear and redundant one. It’s part of a wider movement towards a circular economy, which envisions a whole new way of designing, creating and consuming within the limits of what our planet can handle.
THREE AIMS
The three main aims of a circular economy are:
- To regenerate natural systems
- To design out waste and pollution
- To keep products and materials in use
Prioritising these aims promises, among other things, to reduce emissions and globally cut millions of dollars in material costs. When it comes to food, it also means saving on sky-rocketing healthcare costs, directly linked to pollution and poor nutrition.
If we’re all as invested in the land as each other, we can create closed-loop local systems that minimise waste in clever ways.
WORKING TOGETHER
To become a circular community, we’re moving away from traditional employer-employee relationships and supplier-tenant contracts.
We want people working with us on the estate to take ownership of their ideas. If we’re all as invested in the land as each other, we can create closed-loop local systems that minimise waste in clever ways.
Whether it’s local chefs keeping our produce in demand or a sustainable firewood venture that keeps our woodland managed – it’s all about linking up what we can give and what we can take, to the benefit of the whole community.
We’re out to make the most of the estate’s opportunities for abundance. With a growing team of partners on site, we can shift from selling commodities to distant, invisible consumers; to selling products that are made and sold right here – from sun to soil to table.
GROWING UP
Circular thinking acknowledges all our systems are connected. How we work our land here at Kingsclere directly affects the wellbeing of the people living on and around it – both now, and in the future.
As a mixed farm looking for more partners, we’re building a community working towards a different kind of growth, where success is measured not only in profit margins, but in resilience and our ability to repurpose resources. We’re growing a community that feeds itself.
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Interested in joining our community? Go to our Pitch Up! page to find out more about this year’s opportunities.