The short answer: No. The long answer: We are not certified Organic therefore we cannot legally call our farm or products “Organic”. However we do strive to follow and even exceed the Canadian Organic Standards, with the one major exception currently being the grain fed to our layer and meat chickens; something we are working towards changing in the future. So are we planning to become certified in the future? Possibly, if it makes sense for our context. But for now we will remain uncertified for two reasons. One being that we have a lot to do on our farm already and don’t need added work and cost to become and stay certified. Second, and more importantly, at the end of the day it still comes down to trust. Trust that us, the farmers, are raising our animals right, not cutting corners, and are completely transparent about our practices. That is why we would encourage you to read about our practices on this website, ask us questions, or come see for yourself how we farm. Either at one of our farm tours, or arrange to come see the farm privately. We want to be customer inspected and approved.

There are a few reasons. First off - Quality: The saying “you get what you pay for” certainly applies to food. High quality anything takes more work, more effort, better ingredients, materials and/or practices, which all contribute to higher cost. In our farms context this means that we spend extra money and time making sure that our animals are well taken care of, well fed, out grazing on pasture in the summer and have access to lots of clean bedding and shelter in winter. Second: Many farmers, especially livestock producers need off farm jobs to be able to cover all their expenses, meaning that to a certain degree farmers are actually subsidizing the food we buy at the grocery store. At the same time most livestock operations have such slim profit margins that they need to rely on the economies of scale and raise their animals as cheaply as possible, leading to management systems that are unhealthy for livestock and degrading or polluting to the environment. We strongly believe that this should not be the case and that farmers, just like any other professional, should be well compensated for their effort if they deliver high quality products, treat their animals well, and enhance, rather than degrade the environment. Now, lest you think we are getting rich off our farm, we are not. Norwin is still working a part time off farm job to meet our personal financial needs and the farm has just recently begun breaking even, simply because starting any business is a slow and expensive endeavour. We are optimistic however that in a few years we can devote our full time to raising great food for our customers.

There are many good reasons to support local farms, or any local business for that matter. Besides fresher, better tasting food a few key reasons stick out to us. Food security - A local food supply is much less susceptible to supply chain interruptions, natural disasters or emergencies. Food Safety - Local food travels less, passes through fewer hands and ultimately ends up in fewer homes, reducing sources of contamination and making traceability much simpler. Customer inspected - Buying local allows you, the customer, to get to know your farmers. You can easily find out exactly where your food comes from, talk to your farmers and visit their farms. This fosters community building as well as trust and understanding between farmers and customers. Environmentally and animal friendlier - local food means less transportation, packaging, processing and spoilage. Animals also aren’t trucked half way across the country to giant processing facilities.

While there are many different specific practises that would fall under the term “regenerative agriculture” the basic definition would be anything that promotes and builds soil health. Proponents of regenerative agriculture (including us) believe that current conventional farming practises are degrading our soils and therefore all living things which rely on soil for nourishment. Regenerative practises therefore aim to re-build those soils. On our farm some of the regenerative practises we employ are intensive rotational grazing, permaculture, composting, no-tilling, no use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides.

When herbivores and omnivore are allowed to express their natural behaviours, while being rotated on pasture several positive things happen. First off the animals are happier. Second manure and urine from the pastured animals is spread evenly, fertilizing the ground and growing more grass for the animals to consume. Third, the environment benefits as healthy grass sequesters atmospheric carbon and cleans the air, while animals are doing the work of feeding themselves and not needing the feed harvested and hauled to them. And four, pastured animals receive a more diverse diet, loads of fresh air, sunshine and exercise, all contributing to animals producing healthier, better tasting food.