Regen: A New Future for Farming, Food, and Health

Review Quotes:
A compelling and decisive case for the imperative need to convert the current agricultural production model to regenerative. An absolute must read for farmers, ranchers, agricultural businesses, consumers, and especially, policy makers worldwide. I highly recommend this book.--Gabe Brown, farmer, agricultural educator, and author of Dirt to Soil

Review Quotes:
David R. Montgomery has written another masterpiece. ReGen shows that regenerative agriculture is not just a new buzz word for greenwashing policies, but if it is understood and based on the principles of conservation agriculture--minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and diversity--it works sustainably and regeneratively. This book is a must read for everyone, not only for experts of the subject matter, since it shows nothing less than how we can as humans eventually survive on this planet.--Dr. Theodor Friedrich, retired Food and Agriculture Organization senior officer and Amir Kassam Professor at Reading University

Review Quotes:
If you are hungry for some good news, you will find a feast in ReGen. David R. Montgomery, who has elsewhere recounted the myriad problems that attend modern food production, now describes the solutions. ReGen is cogent, authoritative, and persuasive.--Denis Hayes, chair and CEO of the Bullitt Foundation

Review Quotes:
David R. Montgomery is a craftsman of literature and soil. ReGen combines both skills into a succinct and compelling book on how to regenerate our farms, soils, and food systems. I was once advised to read the one book that saves you from reading many others. This is that book. Regenerative agriculture will dominate the future, and David knows how and why.--Paul Hawken, author of Carbon and Regeneration

Publisher Marketing:

A century of conventional farming has left our planet with sick soil. Once fertile farmlands are now dusty and degraded, accelerating food insecurity, biodiversity loss, and climate change. David Montgomery has devoted decades to investigating this damage. ReGen, his manifesto, lays out practical and productive solutions to recover the health of our land through soil-building regenerative agriculture. Drawing on the work of farmers, historians, and researchers, he forcefully articulates the power of combining cover cropping, no or low tillage, and crop diversity to rebuild soil health. The combination allows farmers to greatly reduce or eliminate synthetic fertilize and pesticide use, and can help address a number of today's most pressing problems. Along the way, he takes apart common myths around conventional farming, animal agriculture, and plant-based diets. Charting a course for action, Montgomery lays out ten policy recommendations--from subsidizing young farmers to establishing a national network of demonstration farms--to safeguard the future of our food supply.

ReGen shows us how reforming the way we see and treat the land can address critically underappreciated and yet eminently solvable problems to restore the health of our land and secure civilization's agricultural foundation--and a healthy future for our society and ourselves.

Review Citations:

• Publishers Weekly 06/08/2026 (EAN 9781324117742, Hardcover)
• Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2026 (EAN 9781324117742, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:Montgomery, David R
David R. Montgomery is a professor of Earth and space sciences at the University of Washington. He studies the evolution of topography and the influence of geomorphological processes on ecological systems and human societies. He received a BS from Stanford University (1984, geology) and a PhD from UC Berkeley (1991, geomorphology). His field studies have included projects in the Philippines, eastern Tibet, South America, California, and the Pacific Northwest of North America. He is an elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and has received many awards throughout his career, including a MacArthur Fellowship and the Vega Medal. His books Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of Salmon, and The Rocks Don't Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah's Flood have all won the Washington State Book Award in General Nonfiction. Montgomery's Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life was a finalist for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Award for Literary Science Writing. He also coauthored with Anne Biklé The Hidden Half of Nature and, most recently, What Your Food Ate: How to Heal Our Land and Reclaim Our Health. His books have been translated into ten languages. He is also a coauthor of the new textbook Essentials of Physical Geography with W. W. Norton.