Soler Romero and Regenerative Agriculture
Regenerative agriculture enriches the land on which our ingredients grow. Read on to learn how Soler Romero, our organic extra virgin olive oil supplier, practices regenerative agriculture for the health and longevity of their amazing olive estate.
We see our products as food for the skin, formulated with certified organic and 100% natural ingredients to nourish, protect and soothe the body. Some of our ingredients are even food-grade. And delicious! The organic olive oil we use in many of our products is the same olive oil our cooks use in the organic lunch we enjoy every weekday. Many Badgers also use it in their home kitchens. Certified organic, Soler Romero’s extra virgin olive oil is single-source estate grown. Pressed and bottled within 3 hours of being harvested to preserve antioxidants, we believe this high-quality olive oil is as good as it gets!
Wherever possible, we support growers who engage in regenerative agriculture, a practice that not only eliminates negative practices like chemical fertilizers and mono-cropping but also actively enriches the land through cultivation, sequestering carbon, increasing soil fertility and preserving the diversity of species. Soler Romero is a shining example of this practice in action!
Olives are one of the most important and widely cultivated crops in Spain, Greece, and Italy. Traditionally, olives are grown on large tracts of land where all other plant species are removed, including the groundcover beneath and around the olive trees. This has led to the loss of vital habitat for a wide array of plants and animals and a decrease in biodiversity of indigenous species. This loss can further disrupt the delicate balance of life and result in a depleted and less resilient landscape unable to support plant and animal life or provide vital ecosystem services such as erosion prevention and carbon sequestration.
Soler Romero has partnered with other olive groves, conservation organizations, universities, and the Spanish government on a project called Olive Alive, which is committed to developing specific agricultural practices that will restore native plants, re-establish habitats, and help olive groves across Spain return the land to a healthy, fertile state. Ultimately, this project is working towards the creation of a biodiversity certification for Spanish olive groves.
Why is this important? The World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF, originally the World Wildlife Fund) estimates that at least 10,000 species go extinct every year, which is 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate. The preservation and restoration of biodiversity worldwide are of critical importance to the health and well-being of our global ecosystem. Just as every individual in a community serves an essential function for the well-being of the whole, the loss of any species in an ecosystem also dramatically affects the well-being of the whole.
The root of our commitment to sustainability and social consciousness begins with the values of kindness and community, of caring for each other and the world around us. And we believe that the pursuit of kindness extends beyond the act of doing no harm. Mitigating negative impact isn’t enough. We want to do better, using business as a force for good with other B Corps to establish a more sustainable and inclusive economy with shared prosperity for all. The creation and promotion of long-term positive change require us to not only avoid the negative but to engage in and enact positive social and environmental benefit for the good of our global community. We celebrate our partnership with Soler Romero, and are proud to support the important work they are doing!