projects

Regenerative Food Systems

Regenerative Food Systems is a sankalpa funded research group, working on a diverse range of issues that have been further highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Founded by a group of sankalpa changemakers, research themes include regenerative and ethical terrestrial agricultural practices; unpicking what constitutes a regenerative society; rethinking the way we presently harvest and farm food from the seas; engaging the veterinary profession with regenerative principles; understanding barriers in uptake of non-conventional farming ideas; and educating and enabling consumers to source food from more regenerative systems.

Supporting Regenerative Food Systems

With an understanding of the essential importance of producing food regeneratively — sankalpa has supported the research group through a combination of advice, networking and funding.

Our initial support followed on from a piece of work in 2013 to characterise the interactions between a farm and its local wildlife. We funded a study to assess the usage patterns of anticoagulant rodenticides to control rodent populations on UK farms. The findings of widespread year-round use were presented at an international conference in 2018 and published in the International Journal of Pest Management. The study established a platform from which to challenge perceptions about on-farm relationships with wildlife.

Over the following years sankalpa has supported research group cofounder, Alex Tomlinson, to undertake a number of other projects including:

Characterising the sustainability the Ethical Dairy — a true ‘early adopter’ of a commercial ‘cow with calf’ method.

Working alongside the team at Vet Sustain to co-produce a book chapter ‘Sustainability: the role of the vet in aligning animal, human and environmental well-being’.

Chairing the Food and Farming Working Group of Vet Sustain to develop and deliver a suite of products tailored to livestock veterinarians, veterinary technicians, veterinary students, and livestock producers.

Production of a webinar ‘An introduction to regenerative agriculture for vets’.

Coproduction of a podcast ‘Regen agriculture for kids’.

Co-production of a podcast ‘Regenerative Oceans’.

New research into the regeneration of marine ecosystems and food in association with World Cetacean Alliance (WCA).

New research into regenerative food systems in Asia, Africa and South America.

sankalpa has supported my personal development, it has been an assisting enabler — support, networks, finance, everything. sankalpa is a family of like-minded people with an aligned goal of seeking to create a better planet.

Alex Tomlinson, Regenerative Food Systems

Regenerative Food Systems, today

In 2017, based on her knowledge of wildlife health and ecosystem functioning, research group cofounder, Alex Tomlinson, cofounded Wilderculture. The consultancy takes an integrated approach to ecological restoration and food production in the British uplands.

Alongside her role at Wilderculture, Alex coordinated the operational aspects of sankalpa up until August 2019 — helping us to evolve, while also coordinating our many different supported activities.

sankalpa continues to support the research group to continue their work around building a universal understanding and shift towards regenerative food systems.

Regenerative food systems may appear to be quite unrelated to some of the more spiritual aspects of our work at sankalpa. But reconnecting ourselves to our ecosystems through the food that we eat dovetails beautifully with many of the changemakers, and the projects they are involved with. It is by combining respect, complexity, dynamism, regeneration and diversity that we create sustainability.

Alex Tomlinson, Regenerative Food Systems