The team has conducted research with consumers, producers, and investors on business models that center conservation and health outcomes, which have resulted in the following preliminary findings: 

Cross-cutting observations: Overall, market transactions reflect perceptions that specific nutritional qualities vary based on farming practices and that natural farming practices produce foods with more positive health qualities (regardless of farming practices). Specific nutritional qualities linked to conservation farming currently drive relatively few transactions. There are challenges related to availability and measurement of data. 

Farm practices for Food Quality and Market Benefits: Our research analyzed the connections between certain farming practices and outcomes that are often under-valued, like increased nutrition in foods, local food system resiliency to supply disruptions, water quality, community and cultural values, carbon sequestration, regional landscape resiliency to shocks like food or drought or fires, and more. 

Consumer incentives: Approximately, 30% of adults in the United States purchase organic foods, and 25% of adults make up a demographic called LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) that specifically seeks out healthy and sustainable products. Primary incentives are personal health and reputation. This consumer segment seems interested in specific health qualities of foods but often lacks credible sources of information for distinguishing between competing products and marketing claims.  

Many natural foods CPG companies would like to be able to market other nutritional qualities around which clear science is still emerging, but lack of regulatory clarity and government-validated data seem to constrain them in making those claims. 

While grocery retailers play a particularly powerful role in educating consumers at point of purchase, they tend to lack marketable information on nutritional qualities, and they usually follow trends rather than setting them.  

Producer incentives: Farmers choose conservation practices for a wide range of reasons including: personal health mission or crisis, cultural and community-building determinants, environmental core values, future potential of regenerative food markets, differentiation in the marketplace (resulting in price premiums or large market share), personal values, and/or alignment with larger institution.