Can we verify regenerative agriculture?"

Switzerland lacks not regenerative farmers, but connections between producers, buyers, and institutions. We use an existing regenerative assessment tool by Agripurpose to facilitate on-farm dialogues, generate action plans, and connect producers with buyers. Together with BellaBio, farmers, researchers, and food purchasers, we test whether regenerative assessment combined with network activation can accelerate market access and strengthen regional food systems.

ZHAW Wädenswil

Patrick Lütolf

patrick.luetolf@zhaw.ch

Wädenswil

Regenerative food is failing to reach the mainstream because the trust infrastructure is missing. Claiming "regenerative" today requires no proof. Certification systems like Bio Suisse or IP-Suisse assess input restrictions, not outcomes such as soil health, biodiversity, or carbon sequestration. The result: honest farmers receive no market differentiation, buyers have no reliable signal, and consumers face greenwashing. Three systemic problem hypotheses form our starting point: Hypothesis 1 - Missing trust infrastructure: Regional food systems cannot scale regenerative supply because the shared standards, verification, and market signals needed to connect practice to purchasing decisions do not exist. Without a credible common foundation, "regenerative" remains a niche self-declaration. Hypothesis 2 - Mainstreaming bottleneck for producers: Pioneer organisations like Soil to Soul, BellaBio AG, Juckerfarm, Biodynamische Ausbildung Schweiz, and Regenerativ Schweiz hold deep practical expertise in regenerative transition, but this knowledge does not translate into market-accessible credibility. Structured peer assessment using the Agripurpose tool is precisely this hinge: it transfers knowledge, builds mutual accountability, and produces verification outcomes that buyers can act on. Hypothesis 3 - Governance deficit as a commons problem: Decisions on land use and food production remain fragmented across individual actors. A peer review system creates a shared space where farmers jointly define, assess, and uphold standards. This directly addresses the FUS challenge: how can we embed communities in decisions on land use and food production?

We target two everyday habits that are closely interlinked. Habit 1: Shopping without knowledge of production practices. Many consumers purchase food without knowing how or where it was produced. "Organic" functions as a quality signal, even though it does not guarantee regenerative practices. We want to shift purchasing decisions from product categories alone towards decisions informed by verified production practices. The approach: the Agripurpose assessment tool generates a farm profile that is visible and legible for buyers at the point of sale, in canteens, and in online shops. Habit 2: Procurement without verification requirements. Institutional buyers in canteens, hospitals, and schools currently procure based on price and certification, rarely based on verified regenerative criteria. We want to shift procurement habit from accepting vague sustainability claims towards requiring verifiable proof. The approach: farms assessed through the Agripurpose tool receive a standardised profile that can directly inform tenders and sourcing decisions. The shared lever: The assessment and peer review process connects both habit levels. It makes regenerative practices visible, comparable, and usable in everyday decision-making - for producers who hold each other accountable and for buyers who finally have a reliable signal. Social innovation here does not come from asking people to sacrifice convenience. It comes from establishing a new everyday ritual in farming: mutual assessment as part of professional identity, and making the results legible to the broader food system.

Yes, the idea has already been tested in various forms. A first draft of minimum requirements for regenerative agriculture has been reviewed with a range of stakeholders, including farmers and practitioners from the networks of Soil to Soul, BellaBio AG, Juckerfarm, and Biodynamische Ausbildung Schweiz. Feedback showed broad agreement on core criteria, but also identified concrete gaps in operationalisation: How is a criterion assessed in the field? Who decides in borderline cases? The Agripurpose assessment tool provides a structured answer to exactly these questions and serves as the methodological backbone for the peer review process we aim to pilot during the booster. What we learned: A workable consensus on regenerative core principles exists among committed actors. The critical next step is not further refinement of the criteria catalogue but its pragmatic testing in practice - with real farms, using a structured tool, and with buyers ready to act on the results. The decisive next step is selling, not certifying. Our goal is to bring genuinely regeneratively produced food to market as quickly as possible, independent of any established label. The Agripurpose-based peer review is not an end in itself. It creates the trust foundation that enables buyers and producers to build direct trading relationships - so that the market for regenerative food in Switzerland can actually start.

Yes, the idea has already been tested in various forms. Developing minimum requirements with stakeholders: A first draft of minimum requirements for regenerative agriculture has been reviewed with a range of stakeholders, including farmers and practitioners from the networks of Soil to Soul, BellaBio AG, Juckerfarm, and Biodynamische Ausbildung Schweiz. Feedback showed broad agreement on core criteria, but also identified concrete gaps in operationalisation: How is a criterion assessed in the field? Who decides in borderline cases? These questions are the starting point for the peer review protocol we aim to develop and test during the booster. What we learned: The stakeholder review confirmed that a workable consensus on regenerative core principles exists among committed actors. At the same time it became clear that the critical next step is not further refinement of the criteria catalogue but its pragmatic verification in practice. We now want to test whether the criteria set works when real farms apply and mutually assess it. The decisive next step: selling, not certifying Our goal is to bring genuinely regeneratively produced food to market as quickly as possible, independent of any established label. Peer review verification is not an end in itself. It is the pragmatic proof of trust that enables buyers and producers to build direct trading relationships. The peer review protocol does not replace a label. It creates the trust foundation that is currently missing, so that the market for regenerative food in Switzerland can actually start.

The core of the booster is testing whether our minimum requirements hold up in practice. We work with a small circle of around 5 farms across different production types - arable, vegetable, and mixed farms. Each farm is assessed using the Agripurpose tool, which generates structured on-farm dialogues and practical action plans. How the peer review will be structured in practice - format, frequency, mutual visits versus facilitated rounds - is something we will develop together with the participating farms during the booster. ZHAW accompanies the process, ensures scientific quality, and evaluates where the approach works consistently and where refinement is needed. Concrete goals by end of booster: First goal: A practice-ready criteria set for regenerative minimum requirements, validated through the Agripurpose tool and peer review, that farms can apply without external auditors. Second goal: A simple, workable verification instrument for direct trade with regeneratively produced food. Buyers - whether institutional purchasers, retailers, or direct customers - should be able to make purchasing decisions on this basis, independent of any established label. Third goal: First documented trading relationships between assessed farms and buyers. We do not want to conclude the booster with a report but with proof that regeneratively produced food has already been sold on the basis of our verification. Fourth goal: The foundation for a follow-up project. By the end of the booster, we will have the insights, the tested peer review format, and a scaling concept needed to extend the approach to more farms, make it compatible with existing certification bodies, and adapt it to different production systems. What we are testing: Does the Agripurpose-based peer review work in practice when farms apply it without external support? Do buyers accept the assessed farm profiles as a sufficient trust basis for purchasing decisions? Does the process produce comparable results when a

Our most important learning goal: are our minimum requirements formulated clearly enough that producers, buyers, and stakeholders broadly accept them, so we can sell regenerative food on that basis with genuine confidence? A first warning signal would be if fewer than 80% of peer review farms can apply the minimum requirements without significant interpretation conflicts. That would indicate that the criteria are too ambiguous and would need fundamental sharpening before they can be used in trade. A second warning signal would be if fewer than 3 out of 5 approached buyers were willing to make purchasing decisions based on our minimum requirements. That would show us that the requirements work internally but do not yet create sufficient trust externally, and we would need to examine what additional steps are necessary.

We work with two complementary partner groups in the pilot phase. Concept and cooperation partners: Soil to Soul - Alexandra Aebersold (gastronomy demand, regenerative sourcing). SDSN Switzerland - Claudia Stürzinger (sustainable development goals alignment, networking). WWF Switzerland - Sabine Mukerji (impact measurement framework, biodiversity indicators). ZHAW Agrofood Projects / Master in Entrepreneurship for Regenerative Food Systems - Elmar Gschwend, Sapana Timilsina (research, student-led pilots, scientific validation). Farming and market partners: Jucker Farm AG - pilot farm Seegräben, network access to German-speaking Swiss farmers. Biodynamische Ausbildung Schweiz - training and qualification of regenerative practitioners, soil knowledge curriculum. BellaBio AG - organic supply network, processing capacity, market access for products including Butternut, onions, lamb's lettuce, and organic pasture beef from 2027. This setup gives us coverage across the full value chain: science (ZHAW, WWF), market and demand (Soil to Soul, SDSN), and on-the-ground production and sales (Jucker Farm, BellaBio, Biodynamische Ausbildung).

We hope to get three things from the booster. First, access to institutional buyers and public sector procurement contacts, particularly canteens, hospital and school kitchens, and municipal purchasing offices that want to or are already considering incorporating regenerative sourcing into their procurement policy. Second, connections to cantonal agricultural authorities and agricultural policy actors working on a definition and promotion of regenerative agriculture in Switzerland. A political anchoring of our minimum requirements would significantly strengthen the credibility of the instrument. Third, expert support on legal and labelling questions: what can be communicated on a product that is sold on the basis of our peer review verification? This is where we lack legal expertise, which we hope to find through the FUS expert network.

Center for Regenerative Transformation, ZHAW (research partner): The CRT contributes scientific expertise in developing and quality-assuring the peer review protocol and minimum requirements. It coordinates the verification process, analyses results, and ensures the instrument is both scientifically sound and practically applicable. Juckerfarm (implementation partner, pilot farm): Juckerfarm is one of Switzerland's best-known regenerative farms and brings direct practical experience in regenerative production as well as established access to end consumers and direct marketing. The farm serves as a pilot site and reference point for testing the minimum requirements. BellaBio AG (implementation partner, sales): BellaBio AG is responsible for the market side of the project. As an experienced actor in the trade of organic and sustainable food, it establishes connections to institutional and commercial buyers and tests whether farms assessed through the Agripurpose tool can actually sell products on the basis of the minimum requirements. Soil to Soul (implementation partner, network and practice): Soil to Soul brings a broad network of regenerative farmers and deep practical knowledge of regenerative transition. The organisation supports the recruitment of pilot farms and the facilitation of peer review rounds. Biodynamische Ausbildung Schweiz (implementation partner, methodology): Contributes experience in holistic agricultural standards and peer learning formats and supports the methodological design of the peer review process. SDSN Switzerland (research partner, international embedding): Connects the project to international sustainability frameworks and knowledge networks, ensuring that findings can have impact beyond Switzerland.

We are looking for two types of expertise not yet covered by our team. First, a person with legal and labelling expertise in Swiss food law. We need to understand what we are allowed to communicate on products sold on the basis of our peer review verification, and what regulatory pathway could lead to a recognised designation in the longer term. Second, someone with hands-on experience in designing Participatory Guarantee Systems, ideally from the international IFOAM network. This person can help us design the peer review process in a way that is robust, fair, and scalable without becoming unnecessarily complex.