At Mountain Rose Herbs, we have always prided ourselves on a business model that supports a healthy planet and healthy people. That means always adapting to changing certifications and standards that, thankfully, are becoming more supportive of our core values and environmental stewardship principles. While the concepts and strategies behind it are not new, one of the emerging farming methodologies is Regenerative Agriculture.
Regenerative agriculture strives to not just avoid further damage to the environment and farmland but actively improve it. This approach is deeply holistic and often appears to work in concert with nature instead of fighting against it for production. Core concepts that are achieved through the various requirements and standards are building soil health, increasing biodiversity of farmland, and supporting the workers from whom all this is made possible.
Many of the facets in the regenerative system will sound familiar to people who have spent time in the sustainable agricultural movement. Vegetative cover and barriers, rotation of crops and animals, minimal soil disturbance, creation of pollinator and wildlife habitats, and zero synthetic inputs are all critical to promoting health and healing of the land.
While regenerative concepts can be applied to different agricultural methods and certification programs, the approach that makes the most sense to us at Mountain Rose Herbs is one that builds on the structure already established in the organic model. This has led us to Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC) through the non-profit group Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA). A farm that is ROC certified builds on their organic certification as a baseline and expands those concepts to incorporate the three pillars of Soil Health, Animal Welfare, and Social Fairness. These principles are rigorously monitored and enforced through annual auditing to ensure a transparent and fair system.
Mountain Rose Herbs is proud to announce that we are now officially licensed with ROA and can work directly with ROC farms to bring botanicals from these amazing operations straight to our customers. This will happen in tandem with our established and deeply valued organic certification from Oregon Tilth.
We are proud to offer our first ROC-certified botanical, US Grown Calendula, and will soon have more organic herbs and housemade extracts available with ROC certification. Stay tuned for more information about our ROC Certified offerings and how we continue to ensure a sustainable future for our farm partners and the herbal community.
You may also be interested in:
Topics: Our Farms, Sustainability
Thomas Klingensmith is the Regulatory Compliance Officer at Mountain Rose Herbs and has worked for the company for over 10 years. Most of his time with the company has been spent in their world class testing laboratory. Thomas comes from a background in local food systems and holds a master’s degree in Anthropology. When he isn’t interpreting the most recent revisions to Federal Organic Policy or collaborating with vendors and customers around the world, he can be found exploring the Oregon wilderness looking for the coldest water to swim in, trying a new recipe from his collection of Southeast Asian cookbooks, or planning his next international trip.
At Mountain Rose Herbs, we have always prided ourselves on a business model that supports a healthy planet and healthy people. That means always adapting to changing certifications and standards that, thankfully, are becoming more supportive of our core values and environmental stewardship principles. While the concepts and strategies behind it are not new, one of the emerging farming methodologies is Regenerative Agriculture.
Regenerative agriculture strives to not just avoid further damage to the environment and farmland but actively improve it. This approach is deeply holistic and often appears to work in concert with nature instead of fighting against it for production. Core concepts that are achieved through the various requirements and standards are building soil health, increasing biodiversity of farmland, and supporting the workers from whom all this is made possible.
Many of the facets in the regenerative system will sound familiar to people who have spent time in the sustainable agricultural movement. Vegetative cover and barriers, rotation of crops and animals, minimal soil disturbance, creation of pollinator and wildlife habitats, and zero synthetic inputs are all critical to promoting health and healing of the land.
While regenerative concepts can be applied to different agricultural methods and certification programs, the approach that makes the most sense to us at Mountain Rose Herbs is one that builds on the structure already established in the organic model. This has led us to Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC) through the non-profit group Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA). A farm that is ROC certified builds on their organic certification as a baseline and expands those concepts to incorporate the three pillars of Soil Health, Animal Welfare, and Social Fairness. These principles are rigorously monitored and enforced through annual auditing to ensure a transparent and fair system.
Mountain Rose Herbs is proud to announce that we are now officially licensed with ROA and can work directly with ROC farms to bring botanicals from these amazing operations straight to our customers. This will happen in tandem with our established and deeply valued organic certification from Oregon Tilth.
We are proud to offer our first ROC-certified botanical, US Grown Calendula, and will soon have more organic herbs and housemade extracts available with ROC certification. Stay tuned for more information about our ROC Certified offerings and how we continue to ensure a sustainable future for our farm partners and the herbal community.
You may also be interested in:
Topics: Our Farms, Sustainability
Thomas Klingensmith is the Regulatory Compliance Officer at Mountain Rose Herbs and has worked for the company for over 10 years. Most of his time with the company has been spent in their world class testing laboratory. Thomas comes from a background in local food systems and holds a master’s degree in Anthropology. When he isn’t interpreting the most recent revisions to Federal Organic Policy or collaborating with vendors and customers around the world, he can be found exploring the Oregon wilderness looking for the coldest water to swim in, trying a new recipe from his collection of Southeast Asian cookbooks, or planning his next international trip.
