Growing Together: Evolution of the Huasteca Regenerative Agriculture Center

Rooted in Place, Oriented Toward the Future

The Huasteca Regenerative Agriculture Center is an intentionally local project with a global lens. Located in Ejido El Chino, in the municipality of Tamasopo in San Luis Potosí, the Center was born from a simple but urgent question: how can rural communities restore land, health, and livelihoods after decades of extractive agricultural practices, while remaining economically viable and culturally grounded?

Ejido El Chino sits within a region shaped almost entirely by sugarcane monoculture. While sugarcane has long provided income for families, it has also contributed to soil degradation, declining water quality, food insecurity, and serious public health challenges. Just two generations ago, families in El Chino produced a wide range of fruits and vegetables for household consumption. Today, the village functions largely as a food desert, with limited access to fresh produce and rising rates of diabetes and other chronic illnesses tied to diet and environmental exposure.

The Center exists to help reverse these trends by demonstrating practical, regenerative alternatives that work within local ecological, cultural, and economic realities. Rather than prescribing solutions from the outside, the Center serves as a place where ideas are tested on the ground, refined through experience, and shared through relationships built over time.

From Urban Roots to Rural Application

The origins of the Center trace back to Eco Centro at Alamo Colleges in San Antonio, Texas. Several of the Center’s founders were deeply involved in developing Eco Centro into a nationally recognized hub for environmental education, urban agriculture, and applied sustainability. That experience shaped a shared understanding that regeneration is most effective when education, demonstration, and hands-on practice happen together, in ways that people can see, touch, and evaluate for themselves.

When Steven Lewis and family relocated to the Huasteca region after retiring from Alamo Colleges, that vision shifted from an urban to a rural context. The need was immediate and clear. The Huasteca region faces increasingly extreme weather variability, widespread reliance on agrochemicals, and economic vulnerability tied to dependence on a single crop. Addressing these challenges required more than workshops or reports. It required a physical place where regenerative practices could be adapted to local conditions, observed over time, and used as a reference point for farmers, students, and institutions.

Breaking Ground & Planting Seeds

The Center began taking physical shape in late 2021 and early 2022, when an international group of collaborators and compadres committed to establishing a permanent regenerative agriculture site in El Chino. The initial site plan, infrastructure and overall design of the Center, along with funding secured by Jess Mayes and administered by Terra Advocati, supported construction of the main operations building and a cabin complex capable of hosting staff, students, and visiting collaborators. Co-founder Maria Guadalupe Vega Mendoza facilitated access to additional land and nearby storage space, anchoring the Center firmly within the community and ensuring long-term local continuity.

As construction progressed, attention turned to land design and infrastructure. Irrigation and plumbing systems were also designed and installed by Jess, and the first agricultural layout was established with an emphasis on water movement, soil protection, and long-term functionality thanks to Bryan Hummel. Berms and swales were designed and placed to slow water, reduce erosion, and define production areas. These early design decisions continue to shape how water, nutrients, and labor move through the site today.

In parallel, the Center became the field site for an international research collaboration funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service, in collaboration with Texas State University and in partnership with Terra Advocati. 

Inspired by the passionate work of Jim Smyle, Dick Grimshaw, Antonio Carrillo-Bolea and the many members of The Vetiver Network International (TVNI), the research project focused on vetiver grass and its capacity to reduce agrochemical runoff, stabilize soils, and protect downstream waterways. Selection for this highly competitive grant affirmed the Center’s potential as a credible research partner, even in its earliest stages, and set the tone for a research-oriented approach grounded in field-based evidence.

This vetiver research established the Center as the first and only producer of, and demonstration site for vetiver in the Huasteca Potosina. 

Taking Root: Research, Learning, and Partnerships

Research remains a core function of the Center and a key driver of its partnerships. Early findings from the vetiver research confirmed that vegetative barriers significantly reduce contaminated runoff from agricultural fields, maintain moisture for prolonged periods, and significantly reduce erosion. Because vetiver is long lived, monitoring continues beyond the formal end of the grant period, reinforcing the Center’s commitment to long-term observation rather than short-term outcomes.

As activity increased, the Center matured operationally. In 2023, it transitioned into an agricultural production corporation under Mexican law, allowing it to function effectively while maintaining its regenerative mission. A second phase of construction added restroom and shower facilities and accessibility ramps, improving safety, inclusion, and functionality for daily operations and visiting groups.

Partnerships with regional educational institutions soon expanded the Center’s role as a learning and research site. Agreements with the Tecnológico Nacional de México campus in Ciudad Valles enabled semester-long student research projects focused on soil health, plant propagation, water treatment, and data collection. These collaborations are structured to benefit both students and the Center, with research findings feeding directly into on-site practice.

Additional partnerships with technical high schools introduced intensive work-study programs, allowing students to combine classroom learning with hands-on experience in regenerative agriculture. University students from agriculture, environmental science, and computer-related fields have used the Center as a venue for professional practice, research, and digital development, including website and communications support. Over time, these partnerships have positioned the Center as a trusted field partner for institutions seeking applied, real-world learning environments.

Branching Out: Expanding Regenerative Practice

From 2024 onward, the Center increasingly focused on soil regeneration and diversified food production as complementary strategies. Staff began producing aerobic and anaerobic soil amendments, worm humus, and compost teas, testing their effectiveness across different crops and soil conditions. While early trials in sugarcane fields produced mixed results, subsequent soil analysis revealed unusually high baseline nitrogen levels that obscured treatment effects.

When applied to diversified fruit and vegetable crops, the Center’s soil amendments consistently demonstrated improvements in plant vigor and yield. These findings reinforced a strategic shift toward diversified food production that can strengthen local diets while reducing dependence on costly chemical inputs.

The Center now produces bananas, papayas, mulberries, pigeon peas, peppers, squash, and other crops suited to local conditions. Trial plantings continue, guided by agronomic performance, community preference, and market viability. Preference testing with local consumers has helped shape future crop selection, ensuring that production aligns with both nutritional needs and cultural familiarity.

A native tree nursery established in 2024 further broadened the Center’s scope. With support from Toyota North America and Pollinator Partnership, the Center now grows native trees for reforestation of degraded forestland, as well as flowering plants that support pollinators. A highly visible pollinator garden and mural along the main road serve as both outreach and education, communicating the Center’s message to thousands of passersby each year.

Weaving Communities

The Center’s relationship with the surrounding community continues to deepen as its activities become more visible and relevant. Two full-time apprentices from El Chino currently work at the Center through a federal youth employment program, gaining practical skills in regenerative agriculture, land management, and small-scale production. These apprentices participate in daily work as well as guided learning sessions focused on observation, problem-solving, and entrepreneurship.

Additional apprenticeship positions are anticipated, expanding local employment opportunities and strengthening the Center’s role as a training ground for future farmers and land stewards. Occasional and seasonal employment further extends economic benefits into the community, particularly during planting and harvest periods.

The presence of a PhD-level plant physiologist on staff has strengthened both research quality and institutional credibility. This combination of deep local knowledge and scientific expertise allows the Center to bridge academic research and practical application, making it a trusted collaborator across community, governmental, and academic sectors.

A Living Demonstration Site

Today, the Huasteca Regenerative Agriculture Center functions as a living demonstration of what regenerative agriculture can look like when it is grounded in place, people, and long-term commitment. Water management, soil restoration, food production, education, research, and art are integrated into a single working landscape. Visitors range from neighboring farmers and students to researchers, donors, and institutional partners.

The Center operates efficiently, with modest monthly expenses and a growing share of costs offset through local food sales, partnerships, and in-kind support. While funding landscapes continue to shift globally, the Center’s diversified model, low overhead, and strong alliances provide resilience and adaptability.

Looking Ahead

Looking forward, the Center’s focus is on deepening impact rather than rapid expansion. Plans include scaling fresh food production for local markets, introducing value-added products derived from fruit crops, and expanding research collaborations, including work with native corn varieties adapted to regional conditions. Educational partnerships are expected to grow at both the high school and university levels, with increased demand for hands-on learning opportunities.

As a living demonstration site, the Center will continue to evolve through practice, observation, and collaboration. Its future is defined less by fixed timelines than by responsiveness to community needs, environmental conditions, and opportunities for meaningful partnership.

Above all, the Huasteca Regenerative Agriculture Center remains committed to its core purpose: restoring land, strengthening food systems, and supporting rural communities through regenerative practice. Its evolution reflects steady, grounded growth rooted in trust, learning, and long-term presence.

The Center stands as an example of how regeneration happens not all at once, but step by step, when people invest in place, relationships, and possibility.

Article written by Steven Lewis

Edited by Jess Mayes/ Terra Advocati