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Ancient Nutrition’s Impact Report

By Jordan Rubin

February 23, 2023

As we release our second annual impact report, the world's interest in the potential of regenerative agriculture is only growing stronger.

Our industry is at a crossroads. We cannot continue to operate business as usual. Climate impacts, biodiversity loss, soil degradation and greenhouse gas emissions all threaten the efficacy of products and the health of the planet and its denizens (people and all living creatures).

Sustainability is not enough. We must embrace regenerative practices to help farmers develop more resilient systems, restoring the land and bringing social and environmental benefits along with it.

At Ancient Nutrition, we understand the concerns around "greenwashing" and the potential to use regenerative practices to prop up other less than stellar parts of business. It’s why we take a holistic approach to our business and seek to infuse regenerative ideals into every aspect of our company.

We acknowledge that what many are calling a new way forward is simply a return to Indigenous and Native wisdom that seeks to work with the land rather than extracting from it.

Our hope is that our report is an example for those that want to blaze a new, ancient path forward. Making this investment now will benefit the soil, animals, plants and people, not just on our land but everyone who comes in contact with any of our products. We hope you join us in the following goals.

Ancient Nutrition’s Goals for Planet and People:

• The efficacy of our products is directly tied to the health of the soil.

• Regenerative agriculture is not a luxury, but a necessity.

• We employ a holistic approach to go beyond sustainability company-wide.

What Is Regenerative Agriculture?

Regenerative agriculture is based on centuries-old farming practices. The aim is to enrich the soil and help stall or reverse climate change. This is done by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring soil biodiversity, something that is significantly lacking in conventional agriculture. 

In other words, we seek to holistically partner with nature to protect soil and biodiversity. The way forward is regenerative agriculture.

Just like our gut microbiome needs a balance of different microbes to function properly, so does soil. The issue is that modern farming practices have decimated microorganisms that are critical for maintaining soil health and nutrient levels in the foods we grow and eat. 

Specific regenerative agriculture principles that marry well with Ancient Nutrition’s include:

• Minimizing soil disruption by using low-till or no-till farming

• Covering soil with living plants

• Not allowing any synthetic chemicals

• Using mixed species holistic grazing

• Building soil microbiome — biodiversity in soil and plant species

• Creating a Regenerative Food Forest of superfood-bearing perennial trees, bushes, vines and shrubs. We are well on our way to planting 1 million trees by the end of 2024. And we plan to meet our goal of 10 million trees planted by 2030.

How to Join Us … By First Believing

Want to help save the world from the climate crisis? You first need to believe that it can done.

You need to believe that everybody, planet-wide, should get the nutrients they need. To grow. To thrive. And to become their best selves.

You need to believe that nature informs science. And that the way forward is firmly rooted in the past.

You need to believe in results. Clinical, such as our Multi Collagen Protein with all its clinical-support benefits for your skin, joints and gut. Noticeable.

And, most importantly, personal. You need to believe in the little things that can go a long way. A scoop. A capsule. A seed. The little things that make all the difference in the world.

And if we, all of us, are going to save the world … it’s important to believe in practicing what you preach. Which is why at Ancient Nutrition, we believe in giving back to the soil, not just taking from it. We believe in reducing carbon in the atmosphere, improving soil health and protecting biodiversity. And we believe if you take care of something, it will take care of you in return.

Every time you use an Ancient Nutrition product, you are part of our mission to plant 10 million superfood trees over the next 10 years. This Regenerative Food Forest will go a long way in transforming our health and revitalizing our planet.

Together, step by step, we plan to help save the world with superfoods. With every purchase of an Ancient Nutrition product, you become part of our mission to transform the health of the planet.

Ancient Nutrition Offers Solutions for Today’s Environmental Problems

Here are three specific examples of real-world environmental problems that we at Ancient Nutrition are tackling head-on.

1. Problem: Conventional Agriculture's Vicious Cycle

If we sustain our current level of farming, we only have 60 years of farmable land left. Monocultures and livestock in confinement lead to lack of biodiversity. Increased use of pesticides reduces insects, pollinators and important predators that control harmful pests naturally. Degraded soil leads to lower nutrient cycling and the decline of mycorrhizal fungi.

Solution:

Practicing regenerative farming. Everything we do needs to leave the world better than the way we found it. Ancient Nutrition is focused on regenerative agriculture to help rebuild topsoil and more quickly than ever before.

While natural processes can take 500 years to form one inch of topsoil, we plan to do that in one year through rotational grazing, mimicking nature's grazing pattern.

In addition, we use compost, aka food scraps, to help build the soil. We also deploy crops that cover the ground with living plants.

We have two goals related to our soil:

• 4 inches of topsoil and 4% soil organic matter by 2024

• 10 inches of topsoil and 10% soil organic matter by 2030

2. Problem: Food Waste

Did you know that food waste accounts for 24 percent of all landfilled material? And that about 7 percent of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions come from food waste?

Solution:

We collect the food scraps from our partners and deposit them on our Certified Organic, Regenerative farms, literally turning trash into treasure. These food scraps feed our animals, help build topsoil and add to our living seed bank.

Our goal by 2024 is to collect 5 million pounds of food scraps.

We’ve also established a living seed bank. Viable seeds from food waste are planted on our farms to increase biodiversity.

3. Problem: Plastic

Billions of plastic bottles are used every year in the supplement industry. A mind-boggling 70 percent of supplement bottles end up in landfills, oceans, rivers, streams and parks.

It can take over 450 years for the bottles to breakdown naturally. Meanwhile, toxins and microplastics are being consumed by animals and unfortunately make their way into the food chain.

Surprisingly, there’s been a lack of alternatives and no cost-effective alternatives to traditional plastic.

Solution:

We hope to be transitioned over to 100 percent biodegradeable, compostable or recyclable packaging by the end of 2024.

We are partnering with PlasticBank to stop ocean plastic and improve collector lives in vulnerable coastal communities. In 2022, Ancient Nutrition prevented the equivalent of 4.5 million plastic bottles of plastic from entering the ocean in collaboration with Plastic Bank.

Ancient Nutrition Initiatives

Here are some of our key initiatives that are well under way …

1. Healthy Soil Matters

It is not just what we eat, but how it was grown that determines our level of health. Conventional farming is harming both the planet and its people. Growing history's most powerful superfoods requires healthy soil.

A grazing plan is a plan for the number of animals that will be on a certain piece of land and for how long. Our grazing plan was developed with soil regeneration in mind. We want maximal pressure with extended rest; think of it like working a muscle.

Our goal is to see how quickly we can regenerate the soil with a combination of regenerative farming practices. We know that some of these practices have been done, but to our knowledge no one is doing all of them at once.

2. Using Our Regenerative Agriculture Farms for Our Products and the Planet

Our R.A.N.C.H. Project stands for our three commitment pillars: Regenerative Agriculture, Nutrition and Climate Health. It’s a first-of-its-kind solution and supports our mission at Ancient Nutrition to transform the health of every individual on the planet with history’s most powerful superfoods.

Our farms include the 133-acre Center for Regenerative Agriculture in Summertown, TN and the 4,000-acre Beyond Organic Ranch & Heal the Planet Farm in Koshkonong, MO.

3. 1% to Heal the Planet

We dedicate 1 percent of all revenue to support regenerative agriculture and the R.A.N.C.H. Project on our 4,000+ acres of Certified Organic, Regenerative Farmland.

4. Packaging Initiative

The goal is simple: Reduce company-produced plastic and waste by a minimum of 25 percent while transitioning to more sustainable packaging and marketing material solutions.

In 2022, we saved over 106,000 pounds of plastic.

5. Key Certifications and Verifications

We do not seek certifications for certification's sake. Every certification is an advancement of a cause we care deeply about. These include the following:

• Regenerative Organic Certified — Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) by the Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA) is a holistic agriculture certification that ensures farms and products meet the highest standards in soil health, animal welfare and social fairness. Ancient Nutrition directs the strategy and operations on the two ROC farms owned by the founders (Dr. Josh Axe and myself). Both of these farms are the first in their states (Tennessee and Missouri) to be Regenerative Organic Certified.

• Savory Network — Land health monitoring and demonstration.

• Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV) — It’s a protocol for monitoring land health, giving a holistic look at soil health, biodiversity and ecosystem function. EOV will help us to quantify the difference our regenerative efforts are making on the land.

• Certified B Corporation — B Corp Certification means that a company has been verified as meeting B Lab’s high standards for social and environmental impact, that it has made a legal commitment to stakeholder governance, and that it is demonstrating accountability and transparency by disclosing this record of performance in a public B Corp profile. We’re now among over 6,300 Certified B Corporations in over 80 countries, across 150 industries leading a global movement for an inclusive, equitable and regenerative economy. All of us, together, using business as a force for good.

• Certified Carbon Neutral Company — Ancient Nutrition is a certified CarbonNeutral® company. This means we have calculated and offset all emissions associated with the operations of our business in accordance with the CarbonNeutral Protocol, the leading global standard for carbon neutral programs. We have taken the additional step to certify all of our products as CarbonNeutral; this will apply to all new products going forward as well.

6. Supply Chain Improvements

In an effort to reduce carbon emissions, we have consolidated our warehouses. This allows us to reduce our storage footprint and lower our transportation emissions.

7. Strategic Partnerships

We partner strategically with other world-changing organizations to help end poverty, hunger, homelessness and human trafficking, all while planting trees to fight climate change.

Our long list of partners begins with the Rodale Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to growing the regenerative organic movement through rigorous research, farmer training and consumer education. Widely recognized as a founder of the modern organic movement in the U.S., Rodale Institute has been the global leader in regenerative organic agriculture for over 75 years.

Starting in January 2022, Ancient Nutrition began the first stage of a 14-year project to revolutionize environmental regeneration and sustainable food production via water conservation, carbon cycling and soil microbiome diversity and viability.

Also, we’ve partnered with the following:

• Regenerate America: Empowering farmers to rebuild our soil

• Snap Lands: land management and natural resource restoration

• Plastic Bank: Empowers Ocean Stewards to stop ocean plastic

• Climate Collaborative: Natural Products co-operative to fuel climate action

• One Step Closer: Mission driven leaders across the natural products industry

• Mully Children's Family: African organization focused on social justice and climate change

If you haven't already, please join us on this exciting planet-changing, life-transforming journey.

Jordan Rubin is one of America’s most recognized and respected natural health experts. He is the New York Times bestselling author of The Maker’s Diet and 29 additional titles, including his latest work The Probiotic Diet. An eco-entrepreneur, author and lecturer on health and nutrition, Jordan is the co-founder of Ancient Nutrition, where he currently serves as CEO. Jordan is also the founder of Heal the Planet Farm and the Ancient Nutrition Center for Regenerative Agriculture located in southern Missouri and middle Tennessee respectively.