What we do

We’ve attended a lot of boring events, so whether it’s conferences, group meetups, or just coffee chats, you can expect us to liven things up. Regenerating our food systems means actually engaging its stakeholders.
Regenerative starts on a rural level, but it needs to be brought to our city centers. We’re building resources for you to access regenerative food systems.
Our umbrella of resources are focused on branding, marketing, and communications. Give us a complex problem, we will give you a simple solution.

Why Regenerative?

Regenerative agriculture has the power to restore biodiversity, sequester carbon, and nourish farm ecosystems - eliminating many of the harmful inputs we’ve relied on for the last century. We must unite farmers, investors, and consumers to discuss why the approach of regenerative agriculture is crucial.

It’s no silver bullet solution, and it will not be easy, but we must start to replenish our farmlands, our planet, and the value of our food. This is why regenerative agriculture matters.

We must look closely at our food systems. These systems have externalized costs we can no longer afford to ignore. Agriculture is one of the leading contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, and soil erosion. Our soil health is declining at unprecedented rates. Our crops are coated in synthetics and are losing the nutritional value necessary for us to live healthy and happy lives.

Why RegenerativeNYC?

Before starting Why Regenerative, we had over 200 conversations with folks in regenerative agriculture, including founders, farmers, and funders. It was constantly brought up that regenerative agriculture needs consensus, community, and capital. As you might know, New York City has no shortage of either.

We brought this rural conversation to an urban space, fostering discussions around resilient, regenerative food systems. The transition of the food system will require intense collaboration between farmers, investors, policymakers, consumers, scientists, and all stakeholders to flourish. We are here to facilitate these conversations, amplify the voices of key leaders in regenerative agriculture, and help scientific evidence inform our approach to agriculture.

WHY US?

Cortlandt and Jackson met in 2020 the midst of the COVID pandemic, both studying entrepreneurship at NYU. Sharing the hunger to build something, Cortlandt and Jackson eventually ran a beef jerky company together, elevated Jackson’s high school jerky brand to STEER, winning NYU’s Stern Venture Fellowship. They put that company on pause after extensive conversations in the regenerative agriculture community. They hosted their conference, RegenerativeNYC, on Earth Day 2024. they hosted the first culmination of their community building efforts. And now, they bring you the State of Regenerative Agriculture (SORA) this September during NYC Climate Week.

At first glance, their differences are clear—Jackson, dynamic and spirited, unwittingly ignited the journey in to regen ag by founding a beef jerky company. He brings the energy, and always challenges the status quo. On the other hand, Cortlandt brings a calm, steady hand to the partnership. Raised by ecologists, he’s focused on enabling environmental stewardship through agriculture and advancing the approaches necessary to create measured change. His methodical approach balances well with Jackson's vigor. Together, they elevated Jackson’s high school jerky brand to STEER, winning NYU’s Stern Venture Fellowship. They put that company on pause after extensive conversations in the regenerative agriculture (RA) community. This past Earth Day (April 22nd) they hosted RegenerativeNYC, the first culmination of their community building efforts. And now, they bring you the State of Regenerative Agriculture (SORA) this September during NYC Climate Week.