Why We Use Regenerative Organic CA AlmondsUpdated 2 months ago

For 7 out of the 11yrs that Philosopher Foods has been in business we used raw dry-farmed almonds, which were imported from Spain. Now we use Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) Almonds from Northern California. 

Regenerative Organic Certified® (ROC) is a revolutionary new certification for food, fiber, and personal care ingredients that represents the highest standard for organic agriculture in the world, with stringent requirements for soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness. Regenerative Organic Certified® uses the USDA Certified Organic standard as a baseline. From there, it adds important criteria and benchmarks that incorporate the three major pillars of regenerative organic agriculture into one certification.

1. Soil Health & Land Management

2. Animal Welfare

3. Farmer & Worker Fairness

Our almond farm growers employ these 5 ROC principals:

1. Utilizing cover crops - This keeps carbon in the ground.

2. Integrated livestock - Grazing animals nourish the soil.

3. Open Space - Maintain and support biodiversity of native plants and animals by providing habitat.

4. 100% Organic - No synthetic chemicals, GMO's, artificial hormones or antibiotics.

5. No-till practices - undisturbed land with natural vegetation and hedgerows creates habitat for pollinators and other wildlife.

By switching to CA grown almonds we have immensely reduced the carbon footprint of our company, which is also located in Northern CA. Keeping our company footprint as local as possible is one of core tenants of our philosophy here at Philosopher Foods. 

Furthermore, our CA growers are ecologically responsible with regard to water use. The aquifers they draw upon are North of Sacramento and thus have a sustainable water supply that is replenished by rains, in contrast to other farms in CA where underground aquifers are dropping at a concerning rate. They use drip irrigation to target the water exactly where it is needed, which saves water. It's the closest to dry farming that is still economically viable to growers in CA. True dry-farming would cut crop yields by 10x or more, which is a tough sell to farmers here with high bills and land prices, and so it is not an economically regenerative model, unfortunately.