Part of the $200,000 Wells Fargo Foundation grant is funding SHA’s production of “Destination Regeneration,” a non-scripted docuseries pilot episode featuring real-life, human-interest stories of ag producers and their families on their respective journeys of regeneration.
Fort Payne, AL (December 1, 2022) – The non-profit Soil Health Academy (SHA) today announced it has received a $200,000 grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation to further advance the adoption of soil health-focused regenerative agricultural principles and practices throughout the nation in 2023.
Part of the grant will fund approximately 100 scholarships for women, veterans, new and beginning, and historically under-represented farmers and ranchers to attend SHA’s upcoming on-farm, regenerative agriculture schools. Featuring instruction from a cadre of world-renowned regenerative farming and ranching experts, these three-day events feature foundational and practical regenerative agriculture education, including access to the on-line Regen Ag 101 course and post-school follow up and support from the instructor cadre.
As part of the grant, SHA will also partner with the Emmy-nominated production team of Joe Dickie, Forrest Fox, Lynn Betts and Ron Nichols to produce a pilot episode for Destination Regeneration, a proposed docuseries featuring compelling human-interest stories of producers and their families who are on their respective journeys of regeneration. Along the way, viewers will be introduced to local communities, restauranteurs, health experts, and others who are interconnected with the soil health and regenerative farming movement.
“Several feature-length, ‘one-and-done’ documentaries have been made on the subject of soil health and regenerative agriculture, but we believe Destination Regeneration has the potential to explore a much broader range of important health, nutrition, biodiversity, community and lifestyle issues connected to the way we grow our food,” SHA President Dawn Breitkreutz said. “Through a non-scripted, documentary-style storytelling approach, Destination Regenerationwill attract many viewers who might not otherwise be attracted to the subject of soil health and regenerative agriculture. We’re very grateful to Wells Fargo for recognizing and supporting both of these important SHA endeavors.”
According to Robyn Luhning, Chief Sustainability Officer at Wells Fargo, the latest grant to SHA represents Wells Fargo’s on-going efforts to support customers and communities transition to a resilient, equitable and sustainable future.
“We are proud to support the Soil Health Academy again this year to bring the environmental, social and economic promise of regenerative agriculture practices to historically under-represented farmers and ranchers across the country,” Luhning said. “Combined with the video pilot that will reach a broader audience, the SHA initiatives align well with Wells Fargo’s commitment to advance community resiliency and adaptation efforts and empower diverse entrepreneurs and small businesses.”
