It's time to transform the food & agriculture system.
Our mission at the Soil Heroes Foundation is to prove that regenerative farming at scale is not only possible, but better for people and the planet than current conventional agriculture.
The Roots of Our Mission
Life on Earth depends on healthy soil, yet the current system of conventional agriculture is degrading it at a worrying rate. This not only threatens our food security and biodiversity but also affects our farmland.
This is where the Soil Heroes Foundation story begins. Jeroen inherited his family’s farm in the Netherlands, only to find it plagued by severe soil compaction and declining yields.
He and his wife Mellany initially explored methods to address the compaction problem, but they soon realized that soil health required a more comprehensive approach, and that if they focused on the soil health of their farm through farming with nature, they could simultaneously improve the biodiversity, the water quality, and the crop resilience.
And so they started on the journey to transition their farm to regenerative agriculture—a concept not well known at the time. The path was not easy and required courage – it took 4 years to start seeing positive changes in the crops, but the soil soon began to heal, and the farm’s ecosystem thrived.
Recognizing the immense potential of and the need to help others who struggled to find guidance, Jeroen and Mellany joined with other simarly motivated individuals to found the Soil Heroes Foundation. Born from this experience, our mission is to accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture.
With nearly 40% of global land dedicated to farming, we exist to prove that restoring our soil is the most powerful way to build a better future for our planet and society.
Our mission at the Soil Heroes Foundation is to prove that regenerative farming at scale is not only possible, but better for people and the planet than current conventional agriculture practices.
We aim to enable the long-term viability of people in harmony with the plant by encouraging widespread adoption of regenerative agriculture practices across Europe and beyond.
We want to make farmers the stewards of land and biodiversity because we believe that nature conservation and restoration can only succeed if rooted locally, respecting local cultures and building the capacity of local organizations.
And we believe to do this, we need to look to the soil…
How We Do It
We are trialling real time innovative regenerative farming models and sharing the results to help farmers with the transition:
Provide proof of practice
By quantifying the ecosystem benefits resulting from applying regenerative agriculture practices on our own testing fields, verifying the results with experts and making the results available publicly. We want to prove that regenerative farming is a system that works ecologically and economically.
Inspire action
By sharing the positive impact that regenerative agriculture has on the soil, on profitability at farm level, on product quality and on climate, we strive to encourage others to follow suit.
Build network & an enabling environment
By bringing together many different stakeholders (farmers, scientific institutes, governments, investors, entrepreneurs...) and creating empowering communication spaces for the key stakeholders to share knowledge and best practices.
Mellany Klompe
on regenerative agriculture
Mellany is the founder of the Soil Heroes Foundation. She has a background in environmental science. She previously worked for the Dutch Waterboards and different local governments agencies. She is also on the board of the Collective Cooperative for Hoeksche Waard. In this role she has been a driver in creating more than 800km of field margins and biodiversity lanes on the island to promote natural pest control, pollination and biodiversity.
Jeroen Klompe
the experience farm
Convinced, through experience, that nature holds the answers, Jeroen, along with his wife Mellany, has built up and transformed their family farm, Klompe Landbouw. Situated just south of Rotterdam in The Hoeksche Waard, it is now a highly successful arable regenerative farm with a combination of sustainable, cutting-edge technology and natural solutions. Jeroen studied farm management at Delft and real estate management in Utrecht. Jeroen is passionate about food quality and taste and is one of the role model regenerative farmers of the Netherlands who strives to “make soil better”.
Annabelle Williams
Director
Annabelle has over 10 years’ experience working for sustainable agriculture think tanks, advocating to transition our farming systems to models that are sustainable for the climate, for the environment, and for the farmers. As well as her role at the Soil Heroes Foundation, she has a side-hustle in cultivating blackcurrants and producing crème de cassis.
Mike
Nutrition project
Mike works both as a member of the team of the Klompe Landbouw, and for the Foundation. At the Foundation, he is responsible for carrying out the farming practices for the Foundation’s proof of practice projects, as well as working in the Foundation’s farm lab.Â
Mike has been deeply inspired by his training in Elaine’s Soil Food Web School and is convinced that farming with nature, using the regenerative approach, will benefit both our health, and our living environment.
Annelies van der Vorm
Impact investor
Frederic Hoffmann
Food and agriculture deal sourcing for GO!, and Board member of the MAVA Foundation
Alexandra Korijn
Co founder of New AJE Capital and Board member at Toniic
The Soil Heroes Foundation is supported by individuals, foundations, organisations and companies who share our vision of regenerative agriculture, and who believe in a future for agriculture that restores our biodiversity, protects human health, mitigates climate change ad produces healthy, nutritious food. Their support enables us to get one step closer to accelerating the transition to regenerative agriculture.
We would like to thank all who have donated to our work and continue to fund us, including:
