Patagonia’s nonprofit arm just gave $1 million to help revolutionize California’s farms

With the funding, the Rodale Institute will help farmers in Ventura County transition away from conventional agriculture toward regenerative, organic practices.

Ventura County, California is a scenic region in the southern part of the state, full of coastal views, rolling green hills, and thousands of farms. More than 2,000 farms occupy over 260,000 acres of land there, making Ventura one of the largest agricultural-producing counties in California—a state that itself produces more than a third of the country’s vegetables and three-quarters of its fruits and nuts.