Whole Foods Market is commited to supporting and elevating regenerative agriculture and the farmers and ranchers who focus on soil health, while helping to maintain the integrity of the term regenerative in the industry and for consumers.
Regenerative Agriculture at Whole Foods Market
While there are a variety of definitions for regenerative agriculture, at Whole Foods Market we say simply that it describes holistic farming and grazing management practices that improve soil, enhance biodiversity and increase carbon capture.
Regenerative agriculture and soil health are closely related. We believe regenerative practices follow five basic Soil Health Principles. Along with measuring improvements, these five principles represent the foundation of farming and ranching practices that improve soil health.
Regenerative Product Labeling
Interested in presenting a product with
regenerative ingredients or sourcing?
At Whole Foods Market, products that mention regenerative on packaging must go through our label review process before going on shelf.
Why Label Review?
Our goal is to provide a level playing field, maintain consumer trust in our brand and avoid greenwashing when it comes to claims about regenerative agriculture.
What Do We Review?
To avoid greenwashing of products sold in our stores, we review packaging labels for all products making a regenerative agriculture claim.
Who’s Involved
We work with suppliers and their Whole Foods Market primary contact to help ensure that regenerative claims on product packaging accurately reflect what went into the products.
How We Review Labels
We evaluate labels using our Whole Foods Market Regenerative Assessment
and benchmarked third-party certification and verification programs.
Our regenerative claims label review is based on the five Soil Health Principles.
For prominent claims, seals or logos on the Principal Display Panel:
We require third-party certification or verification to one of these benchmarked programs:
For ingredient-specific claims or romance copy
Internal Whole Foods Market teams conduct a detailed evaluation of the product’s sourcing using our Whole Foods Market Regenerative Assessment.
To support a regenerative claim, the assessment responses must represent that the farm adequately addresses:
- At least four of the five Soil Health Principles
- Established metrics and monitoring to evaluate soil health
Supplier Responsibility
It’s your responsibility to inform your primary Whole Foods Market contact of any regenerative label claims on products. This includes existing, new or potential claims on product packaging that are now sold or proposed to sell in Whole Foods Market stores.
Get Involved
Looking for a way to get started now? Check out our Regenerative Resources page and Tools for Soil Health for more ideas.
