She is a Member of the European Parliament and is heading into the upcoming negotiations on the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, CAP. But today, the work is not taking place in Brussels. It is happening here – in the middle of a quiet, snow-covered agricultural landscape.

The question therefore arises naturally:
What is a European politician doing at a regenerative vegetable farm in Beder in January?

The answer lies in the meeting between policy and practice.

Sigrid Friis has come here to speak with Peter Kirk-Haugstrup, who runs Peters Gartneri as a community-supported, regenerative CSA farm – the largest of its kind in Denmark. Local residents subscribe and harvest their own vegetables during the season. It is a business model that closely connects food production, local engagement, and land stewardship.

The conversation unfolds at the intersection of experience and analysis. Kasper Krabbe, a PhD student and anthropologist from the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University, contributes perspectives on how regenerative farming systems fit – or fail to fit – within existing support schemes, documentation requirements, and political frameworks.

A farm based on regenerative principles

There is no single, universally accepted definition of regenerative agriculture. At Peters Gartneri, however, the work is guided by five core regenerative principles:
• reduced tillage,
• continuous ground cover,
• increased crop diversity,
• integration of livestock, and
• reduced reliance on external inputs.

These principles serve as a framework for ongoing adaptation and learning, with soil health as the central focus.

This is where the role of the Department of Agroecology comes into play. Aarhus University has been a partner in the pilot project, providing academic input, links to relevant research environments, and knowledge on how the effects of regenerative practices can be measured, documented, and communicated. At the same time, the university has helped place the local experiences within a broader Danish and European context, including their relevance to climate impacts, soil management, and future regulatory and support instruments.

In this context, the recently adopted Soil Monitoring Law was discussed, which many hope may pave the way for a more soil-focused CAP. At the same time, attention was drawn to the particular challenges faced by small-scale farms: limited access to support schemes, high documentation demands, and systems that are often designed with larger and more standardised farms in mind.

Business models set the framework

The visit to Beder highlighted that regenerative farming systems are not only about how food is grown, but also about the food system in which they operate. Business models such as direct sales, subscription schemes, and self-harvest are therefore part of the structural conditions that make it possible to work with high diversity, seasonal variation, and less standardised products.

At the same time, Kasper Krabbe emphasised that this way of producing food shifts a number of burdens onto the farmer. Complexity in the field demands substantial professional expertise and experience, and economic resilience is often fragile – particularly in the establishment phase. The model therefore requires long-term planning and a willingness to operate outside the frameworks typically offered by large-scale food systems.

Against this background, Kasper Krabbe stresses that local, regenerative vegetable farms cannot – and should not – replace the rest of agriculture. Instead, they represent a form of production that currently occupies less space than its potential would suggest.