A celebration of Canadian regenerative farmers for digging into new solutions to mitigate climate change, restore biodiversity, and support healthy communities. Created with Regeneration Canada with the support of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
NATIONAL AWARENESS CAMPAIGN / 10 ACTIVITIES / 8 PROVINCES / 2024
Creative direction, project management, and media production
10
farms
8
provinces
8
farm-to-table events
6
webinars
23
partners
200+
social media posts
10
podcast interviews
10
short films
Purpose
Right under our feet, living soils enable us to regenerate natural landscapes, protect waterways, and mitigate climate change. This campaign highlighted how many Canadian farmers are implementing regenerative practices that go beyond sustainability and promote resiliency in our communities and ecosystems.
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Through events, videos and podcast interviews, we portrayed the human side of farming and the role of farmers as key members of their communities.
Farmers openly shared details about their operations and farming philosophies, which helped increase consumers' trust in their products.
By walking in the farmers' shoes for a day, our audience could also understand the challenges associated with conscious agriculture. Through our Regenerating the Roots webinar series, the speakers raised awareness of agriculture's mental and physical health tolls, creating empathy and appreciation among participants.
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Through events and webinars, participants had an opportunity to directly ask questions, clarify misconceptions and learn how to address challenges.
The webinar series explored what regenerative agriculture means from six different angles, from what happens on the ground to the community impacts beyond the fields.
We received many positive comments about the campaign's storytelling and our ability to explore not only the individual experiences of farmers but also the big picture of the Canadian agricultural landscape.
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The farm events allowed farmers and consumers to engage in person, build bridges, and establish new relationships based on mutual understanding and trust.
The campaign helped foster connections within the local communities and, in some cases, facilitated partnerships between farmers and small businesses. One particular story that stands out is how Saltine Baking Co. bakers established a supplier relationship and incorporated Axten Farms heritage grains into their baking after attending our Saskatchewan farm event. The bakers also opened a space in their store to sell the farm grains to customers.
Process
Campaign visual identity, in-person engagements through farm events, opportunities to deepen the knowledge through blogs and webinars, and stories that traveled further through short films, podcast interviews, and social media platforms.
The diversity of deliverables and activities proved to be engaging for the audience. The collection of interviews captured a broad picture of the current state of the regenerative movement in Canada through the voices of 11 diverse farmers from 8 provinces, increasing awareness and knowledge of the general public.
Event highlights
Presentations
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Joel Williams, Christine Taylor, Vicky Levesque, Derek Lynch, Mike Bomford, Rebecca Harbut, Jerome-Antoine Brunelle, Antonious Petro and Paige Fehr.
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We included at least two presentations on each event, one explaining regenerative agriculture principles and the other explaining soil health and how it impacts the entire ecosystem, including planetary and human health. Participants also learned about soil composition, nutrients and biology, soil resiliency, and carbon storage.
Farm tours
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Rogersville, NB; Wolfville, NS; Minton, SK; Forrest, MB; Richmond, BC; Compton, QC; Ottawa, ON; Lacombe, AB.
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During the farm tours, farmers took participants into their fields and showed how the concepts explained during the presentations apply in real life. The farmers also dug holes in the ground to allow participants to look at the soil structure, touch it, smell it, analyze their richness in organic matter and compare observations.
Farm-to-table dinners
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Marc Surette, Brittany Livingstone and Cael Harlow, Marco de Michele, Chef J.D. Braid, Marrianne Park
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All events included a farm-to-table meal featuring ingredients produced at the farm and prepared by local chefs, reinforcing a sense of community. The dinner allowed the participants to network and ask questions in an informal setting.
Swag
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Melika and Fanny Saunier
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We handed paper notebooks in both languages during the events (English / French) with a description of Regeneration Canada’s mission and the 10 regenerative principles promoted by the organization, along with additional blank pages for note-taking during the events.
We also created amplification packages to share with partnering organizations to help spread the word about the campaign.
Film highlights
Regeneration Canada
A nonprofit organization that promotes soil health to mitigate climate change, restore biodiversity, improve water cycles, and support healthy food systems by creating spaces for farmers, scientists, organizations, and citizens to learn, connect and take action to regenerate soils.
Featured Farms
Snowy Mountain • Cawston, BC Film / Podcast / Webinar
KPU Research and Teaching Farm • Richmond, BC Film / Podcast / Webinar
Peony Farms • Lacombe, AB Film / Podcast / Webinar
South Glanton Farms • Forrest, MB Film / Podcast
Just Food Community Farm • Ottawa, ON Film / Podcast / Webinar
Bla-Kar Farms • Merlin, ON Film / Podcast
Axten Farms • Minton, SK Film / Podcast / Webinar
Lightfoot & Wolfville Vineyards • Wolfville, NS Film / Podcast / Webinar
Ferme Terre Partagee • Rogersville, NB Podcast / Webinar FR
La Station • Compton, QC Film FR / Podcast FR / Webinar FR
Team
Executive direction by Antonious Petro
Operations by Sara Maranda-Gauvin
Creative direction, project management and production by Alieska Robles
Education, research and webinars by Paige Fehr
Video by Jean-Marc Abela, Obed Dejean and Phile Beauchemin
Podcast host Derek Leahy from Rural Routes to Climate Solutions
Communications and media partnerships by Genevieve Leblanc
Admin, protocols and QC event by Pamela Fillion
Additional support for communications, graphic design, web development, webinars and booking by Alix Tabet, Rosina Rodrighiero, Kate Axten, Olivier Cassab, Melika and Fanny Saunier.
Advisory committee composed by Ananda Fitzsimmons, Amanda Klarer, Philip Loring, Brianne Miller, Tannis Axten, Isabelle Marquis and Angel Beyde.