Almost everything you eat grows from a thin skin of living soil — teeming, microbial, and quietly disappearing. Big Soil™ exists to bring it back to life. Our fate —and ability to grow food— depends on it.
In nature, it takes between 100 to 500 years to create just 1 inch of topsoil. Now, with industrial agriculture, weather erosion, and poor urban planning, we can destroy that inch in hours.
is already degraded — eroded, depleted, or contaminated — according to UN estimates.
Nearly half the world's topsoil has been carried away within a single human lifetime.
Fertile soil lost annually to erosion — roughly the weight of a mountain range, gone.
The United Nations has warned that at present rates of degradation, the world's farmable soil may support only around 48 more harvests — perhaps another 45 to 60 years of agriculture. Every meal after that depends on the choices we make now.
This isn't a distant, abstract number. It is the countdown beneath breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And unlike almost every other environmental crisis, the fix is buried within reach.
Healthy soil is not dirt. It's a civilization. Thousands of species — bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes — trading nutrients through threads of fungal mycelium in a network as old as time.
Nearly 87% of life on land is sustained thanks to the living activity of the first 12–15 inches of our topsoil. It's the most fragile, breathing layer on Earth, and it's dying at record speed.
Fungi and bacteria unlock minerals from rock and organic matter, delivering them to roots in exchange for the sugars a plant makes from sunlight.
The nutrient density of your food is inherited directly from the soil it grew in. Poor soil quality means poor nutrient quality.
Soil microbes and our gut microbiome are linked — influencing mood, health, and immunity. Food doesn't come from the plant, it comes from the soil.
Regeneration isn't new technology. It's a return to how living systems already work: keep the ground covered, keep roots in the earth, and let the microbes do what they've done for a billion years. Soil holds more carbon than all vegetation and the atmosphere combined — heal it, and it'll heal a great deal else. (Cough) The climate.
Cover crops and mulch shield the soil from sun, wind and rain, keeping microbial life alive in the shade instead of baking it bare.
Reduced and no-till farming leaves the underground web intact. Every deep plough tears apart fungal networks built over years.
Diverse rotations and living roots year-round feed a richer community below ground — the true engine of fertility.
Living soil acts like a sponge. Each 1% of organic matter can hold tens of thousands of extra liters of water per acre — buffering drought and flood.
Fair carbon markets and price recognition for regeneratively-grown food make the healthiest choice the viable one.
Regenerative practice pulls carbon from the air back into the ground, where it belongs — turning farmland from an emitter into a sink.
Healthy agricultural soil should hold at least 3–6% organic matter. Across much of the world it's fallen below 1%. Restoring that living fraction — field by field, policy by policy — is the single clearest lever we have. It's the target Big Soil™ organizes around.
We work at four altitudes at once — from the microbe to the ministry — so that healthy soil becomes the default, not the exception. And by ministry we mean those in power, not the one in Harry Potter. Though, if we’re being honest, we definitely prefer the latter.
Public storytelling, education, and cultural work that puts the living earth back into everyday conversation — calmly, and grounded in evidence.
Grants, training, and transition support for growers moving toward regenerative practice, plus fairer access to carbon and premium markets.
Supporting research into the soil microbiome, measurement of organic matter, and the practices that rebuild it fastest.
We collaborate with Big Food, not against it, because we share the same future. Through certification, we hold influential companies accountable.
Big Soil™ exists thanks to a generous commitment from the founders of MAMAS — a food brand built on the same principles and beliefs. Better food comes from better soil.
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Big Soil is led by mega-nerds who spent their careers where food, science, and the living earth meet — guided by a board committed to soil for the long term.
Sunny Tripathy is a screenwriter and lifelong nature lover who actively spends his time volunteering or self-financing mini-projects in conservation and habitat protection in different parts of the world.
While living in the arid, desert landscape of the Antelope Valley, Sunny and his wife Sonia Sandha geo-engineered their own backyard into a micro-farm by creating a hyper-fertile soil that had high CEC, large mycelium networks, and 8% organic matter.
Sonia, a scientist, MBA, and MSNS from UPenn by day, is the founder of the better-for-you food brand “Mamas” — which is focused on better cooking oils. With her expertise in nutrition science, epidemiology, and naturopathy, she led Mamas to commit a portion of business to Big Soil and its mission at large.
Big Soil's board provides fiduciary oversight and long-horizon stewardship of the mission. Beloved names (you would recognize) are currently being interviewed for additional board seats; final decisions and official appointments will be announced soon.
A trust mark for brands that put real ground back under their products — from pantry staples to global corporations.
At least one certified-regenerative farm or manufacturer active in your supply chain — verified, not vibes.
An annual contribution, scaled to your company's size, directed to nonprofit farms, soil restoration, and carbon-fixing projects.
A stated regenerative commitment, renewed and reported annually. The mark stays earned.
Some people want to leave the planet. We feel, when there's a problem with your home, you don’t abandon it and run. You stay and fix it.
Four ways to show up: give, certify, sponsor, or join us in the field. Every voice, every dollar, and every acre restored can change our fate.
Let’s fund grants to farmers, soil science, and active restoration projects.
The Big Soil™ Foundation is a Nonprofit 501(c)(3). Gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law — your accountant will approve. Gifts of $1M+ enter our Founding Partners circle, recognized across our work, events, and story.
Donate Link Coming SoonPut the mark of living soil on your brand — and real regeneration behind your products. We hold influential people and companies accountable, and proceeds from the certification go toward the Big Soil non-profit projects.
Email for criteria →Fund a farm day, a restoration, a cleanup — co-branded, Big Soil™ × you. Your family and friends, or corporate team in the soil, having a good time, learning, doing something good, getting great content for memories, and making friends. Invitations scale from local businesses to global companies, starting in LA and eventually growing worldwide. This opportunity is currently invite-only.
Start the conversationField grants for qualifying farms or eco-projects that meet strict regenerative criteria will be considered starting Fall of 2027. All grants must go to reputable, mission-aligned groups in good standing. Big checks, real dirt.
Request the criteriaOne email a month from The Big Soil™ Foundation — projects, international trips, and meetups. Follow along at @bigsoilfoundation. Follow us on Insta at Big Soil Foundation