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Darcy Smith - page 11

Darcy Smith has 283 articles published.

Pilgrims’ Produce: A 30 Year Legacy

in 2021/Grow Organic/Land Stewardship/Organic Community/Organic Stories/Summer 2021

How the Hettlers Embody Organic Principles (and Are Good at Growing Farmers)

Michelle Tsutsumi

Finding my way to Pilgrims’ Produce in the fall of 2009, when I wanted to learn how to garden, ended up changing my life. It sounds dramatic; however, witnessing and experiencing the ways in which Robert and Kathryn engage with the world impacted me in subtle ways, over time. Over a decade later, and with a more nuanced relationship with organics, I can see more fully how the Hettlers embody organic principles.

Not only have Robert and Kathryn stewarded the land they lived on, and with, for the past 30 years, using a combination of responsibility and innovation, they have done so with future generations in mind. One of the first things I remember Kathryn describing was how important it was to her and Robert to be growing good food for their family, friends, and wider community. The farm has been a special gathering space for the extended Hettler clan, serving as a central meeting point for children and grandchildren who are now dispersed around the world. So many incredible memories and feasts have been celebrated at Pilgrims’ Produce over the years!

A vintage photo of the Hettler Family. Credit: Pilgrims’ Produce.

Their thoughtful appreciation for people showed up in attentive conversations, as in really listening and asking pointed questions, as well as in random moments walking from one section of the farm to another. This caring way of being was reciprocated by many employees who would return to work at Pilgrims’ Produce year after year and, eventually, launch into their own farming with a solid base of learning and mentoring to draw from. Not to mention always feeling welcome to give Rob a call with questions or stop in for a visit that inevitably would include ‘shop talk.’

Employees who went on to create their own farms include Kate Murphy at Lakehead & Beyond Produce Society, Mark Uher at Mara Valley Produce, and Joel Hayhoe and Tessa Wetherill at Our Open Farm. Through the Young Agrarians Business Mentorship Program, Rob mentored Emily Jubenvill at Enderberry Farm. Folks who returned to or joined family farms include Eva-Lena Lang at Cedarstein Farm and me at Golden Ears Farm.

Many of these names are probably familiar to you because they have also engaged in actions that serve the organic community, or agriculture more broadly, through participation in Agriculture Advisory Committees, land matching, certifying body boards and committees, expanding food systems networks, and even in the role of Executive Director of COABC! This community involvement mirrors the years and years of Robert and Kathryn’s contributions and dedication to building the organic movement.

Kathryn and Robert sorting fruit. Credit: Alan Price.

Working at Pilgrims’ Produce was a beautiful mix of hard work, a buzz of activity—particularly in June, when you would see the quad and trailers bringing in the harvest on top of a steady interchange of vehicles belonging to the folks flocking in for u-pick strawberries—and the most amazing staff lunches (thank you, Kathryn!).

Pilgrims’ Produce was also a site for events like Shoots ‘n Blooms, CSA strawberry socials, and inter-farm potlucks. The importance of relationships and creating the time and space to nurture them was affirmed by example and reassuring words: “Take the time you need to visit your family. Not to worry, the weeds will be here when you get back.”

So many markets over the years! Robert at the market stand. Credit: Pilgrims’ Produce.

On March 31st, 2021, a sizeable group of people who have been impacted by Robert and Kathryn gathered over Zoom to share memories and stories of what the farm means to them. It served as both a celebration of Rob and Kathryn’s organic farming and community building and the transfer of the farm to Dan and Kat Saxton 30 years—to the day—after the Hettlers moved in!

Many named the beauty of the land, its healing capacity, and the generous-in-spirit nature of Robert and Kathryn as influencing them. Kate Murphy aptly described how Robert and Kathryn have been growing more than food, they have been growing farmers.

We love you Robert and Kathryn and are so pleased that you have kindred spirits in Dan and Kat to carry on the legacy of Pilgrims’ Produce. A legacy of care, stewardship, good food, and growing farmers!

Michelle Tsutsumi at Pilgrims’ Produce with the team. Credit: Alan Price.

We have the world to live in on the condition that we will take good care of it.

And to take good care of it, we have to know it.

And to know it and to be willing to take care of it, we have to love it.

~ Wendell Berry

pilgrimsproduce.com

Kathryn at market. Credit: Pilgrims’ Produce.

Michelle Tsutsumi grows food on the unceded land of Secwépemcul’ecw and, in doing so, acknowledges the tension inherent in the practice of agriculture and Indigenous-settler relations. As a communicator, she engages in difficult conversations around dominant cultural mindsets and structures so that we can transform them into a more just and equitable way of being.

Feature image: Farm families – Robert and Kathryn Hettler smiling with Dan and Kat Saxton and their children—the next stewards of Pilgrim’s Produce. Credit: Pilgrims’ Produce.

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Footnotes from the Field: Feeding Wisdom

in 2021/Climate Change/Footnotes from the Field/Organic Standards/Summer 2021

A Whale of a Story

Marjorie Harris

Excerpt from the BC Certified Organic Program

Operators Manual:

1.4 Principles of Organic Farming

2) To interact in a constructive and life-enhancing way with natural systems and cycles.

5) To develop a valuable and sustainable aquatic ecosystem.

8) To promote the healthy use and proper care of water, water resources and all life therein.

The Oceans of Life

Our planet’s web of life is inextricably linked to the mineral- and nutrient-rich oceans that cover 71% of our Earth’s surface and hold 96.5% of all the water, yet it is said that we know more about space than about the great abundance of life in our oceans. We are only just discovering how the multitudes of complex food webs on land are completely dependent on the ocean’s abundance for nourishment. The oceans provide the oxygen we breathe, the rain we need, the minerals and nutrients we grow with, the climate temperatures we live in, and more. And the oceans are home to the planet’s keystone species, the whales.

Every ecosystem has a keystone organism that helps to define the entire ecosystem, without which the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether. Blue whales are the largest of the whale family, and the largest animals that have ever existed on Earth. Whales as a group define the ocean ecosystems by “the whale pump,” a cycle that circulates nutrients that support the ocean’s food webs and ultimately deliver nutrients to land. The whales are irreplaceable. If lost, the web of life as we know it would likely cease to exist.

Aquaculture has joined the organic family of organic standards; therefore, it is prudent to understand the breath and scope of how the ocean ecosystems underpin our very existence on land, so that we can be good stewards of our water world.

The Whale Pump. Credit: Joe Roman and James J. McCarthy.

The Whale Pump

Whales release copious amounts of nutrient-rich liquid feces, which floats, suspending dissolved nutrient particles in the sunlit surface waters. Whales circulate 24% of the ocean’s iron; these iron-rich plumes of fertilizer boost pelagic, or open ocean, microscopic algae phytoplankton blooms. Blue whales living in the southern oceans can excrete 2% of their body weight per day. For an adult whale, this is equivalent to about three tonnes. Sperm whales specialize in bottom feeding, bringing nutrients back to the surface. Vast pastures of phytoplankton blooms play a crucial role in regulating the planet’s climate temperature. David Attenborough has said that the phytoplankton pastures of the oceans are our greatest ally in combating climate change.

As phytoplankton photosynthesize, producing oxygen, they in turn sequester atmospheric carbon in their bodies, which, when they die, sinks down to the deep ocean sediments, taking it out of circulation for a period of time. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates that 50% to 80% of all the Earth’s oxygen is produced from the oceans’ phytoplankton pastures, which produce more oxygen then all the forests, jungles, and other sources combined.

Blue whales are known as baleen whales, specialized filter feeders depending mainly on a diet of shrimp-like krill. The krill are also filter feeders, feeding mainly on microscopic algae phytoplankton fertilized by the whales. Essentially, whales fertilize the food chain for themselves and all of the other higher-level food webs that depend on krill and phytoplankton. Krill are a keystone food species for the open oceans higher-level food web feeders including whales, seals, penguins, squid, invertebrates (such as jellyfish), albatrosses, many species of seabirds, and several fish species, including salmon and oily foraging fish.

The Salmon-Nitrogen-Forest Cycle

As they spawn, salmon come to British Columbia’s rivers in mass migrations, where their decomposing bodies act like a pipeline of nutrients from the ocean. Salmon feed in the open ocean on krill, oily foraging fish, crabs, and other seafoods.

Throughout the province’s salmon-bearing watersheds, 40% to 80% of the nitrogen in the riparian zone shrubs and trees originates in the open ocean. Nitrogen (N15) from the ocean has a heavier isotope signature than other sources of nitrogen and can be easily identified by laboratory analysis.

Dr. Tom Reimchen, forest ecology researcher at the University of Victoria, has found that nutrients derived from salmon returning from the open ocean can be observed in old-growth trees that are hundreds of years old, and in the animals that live on the salmon. “There’s a cascading effect on the food web,” Reimchen says. “Salmon are primarily eaten by bears, who pull them out of streams to eat. Decomposing salmon on the sides of streams not only fertilize the soil beneath them, they also provide the base of a complex food web that depends upon them.”

The scraps of fish are passed onto gulls, ravens, crows, eagles, and up to 55 insect species. The oldest fossilised salmon skeleton found near Kamloops, BC, dates back to approximately 18,000 years ago when the last Ice Age glaciers started to melt.

The Salmon Forest Project. Credit: T. E. Reimchen.

Whales Neared Extinction

Until the Iron Age arrived around 3,000 years ago, humans had only been able to hunt smaller sea creatures using canoes and spears. Iron Age tools gave the ancient Romans an edge to hunt larger whales like gray and right whales possibly to extinction from the Mediterranean Sea ecosystem. Bones found at ancient Roman fish processing sites provide evidence that these whales once inhabited the Mediterranean Sea area.

Whaling increased steadily from the 16th century onward even as it remained a very hazardous pursuit. With the invention of the bow-mounted exploding harpoon in 1864 the entire whaling industry changed drastically. The largest baleen whales could now be harvested. Whale oil and whale products fueled the industrial revolution of the 19th century. Next came the factory ships of the 20th century, bringing commercial whaling into the industrial scale. Scientists estimate that 2.9 million whales were killed for commercial purposes in the 20th century, causing the catastrophic decline of global whale populations. By some estimates, sperm whales were depleted to one-third of their pre-whaling population, and blue whales by up to 90%.

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was formed in 1946 to provide for the proper conservation of global whale populations. The IWC established various bans on whaling; however, even with whaling bans in place, commercial whale harvesting numbers did not peak until the mid-1970s. This prompted the IWC in 1982 to place a global moratorium on all whale species in 1986, with an exemption for scientific study and Indigenous whaling as a traditional food source.

However, the IWC lacks any enforcement powers over whaling as membership is voluntary. Canada had already prohibited commercial whaling from all Canadian ports in 1972, but left the IWC in 1982 in order to formally recognize Inuit treaty rights to hunt whales. Countries that have resumed commercial whaling outside of the IWC moratorium are Japan, Norway-Faroe Islands, and Iceland. At the same time, markets for whale meat are shrinking as people become more aware of the whaling impacts on the global environment.

Recovery of Whale Populations

Whale recovery monitoring data collected since the 1990s shows that recovery has varied widely. Some populations have grown, some are experiencing new declines, and many remained endangered. A main factor implicated in slow whale population recovery is a lack of food. The whale food supply has been hit by pollution, climate change, and competition with human commercial fisheries.

The most productive ecosystems for krill are at the polar ice edges where the mix of cold and warm waters causes nutrients to circulate rapidly. Ice shifts have caused less nutrient circulation through the water columns, reducing food web production. Other factors include human commercial fisheries depleting krill, salmon, and oily forage fish populations leaving the food webs to starve.

The Whale Pump Has Slowed

Recovering from disruptions to the whale nutrient pumping cycle can take decades. Scientific measurements demonstrate a slowing of the whale pump due to whaling activity. Phytoplankton biomass has reduced in volume causing a two-fold effect: lower grazing volumes, and a contributing factor in climate change.

Marine mammal biologist, Trish Lavery of Flinders University, Australia, calculated how much atmospheric carbon was being removed by just one whale species, sperm whales, whose poop fertilizes phytoplankton in the southern oceans. The Southern Ocean was once home to over 120,000 sperm whales. “If we hadn’t removed them,” she says, “we’d have an extra two million tonnes of carbon being removed out of our atmosphere every year.”

Lower phytoplankton grazing volumes for foraging critters restricts food for fisheries worldwide. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations monitors 600 marine fish stocks. Findings show that the majority of global commercial fish stocks are already fully exploited, over exploited, or depleted.

FAO lists five Pacific West Coast fisheries, Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, North Pacific hake, and Pacific herring as being moderately exploited to overexploited, and other shrimps ranging from fully exploited to depleted. There are many reasons for the decline in salmon populations: stream destruction, dams, pollution, disease, overfishing, and the amount of food that is available to salmon in the ocean. An article published in Nature reported recent declines in salmon body size due to lack of food in the oceans and the further impacts to land ecosystems receiving less nutrients from the oceans.

Fish meal and fish oils derived from ocean fish are allowed in the 2018 Organic production systems standard – Permitted substances list for aquaculture (CAN/CGSB-32.312-2018). Fish fertilizers are allowed in crop production. The most harvested species caught for fish meal, fish oil, and fertilizer products, in North American waters is menhaden. Menhaden is a small oily fish that forages on phytoplankton.

Menhaden are a keystone food species for the entire Atlantic food web, sustaining fish, whales, and seals. The menhaden fishery has operated for 150 years, with mature breeding stock in decline in some areas. Even though regulatory bodies keep certifying the fishery as sustainable there are conservationist concerns over poor regulatory controls being in place to protect the menhaden fishery. The vast majority of the menhaden harvest is diverted from the natural food webs into protein meal for penned aquaculture systems and large animal feed.

In less than 200 years of intensive whaling, the oceans’ nutrient cycling whale pump has been disrupted and slowed. The ocean’s food webs continue to decline while whale population recovery lags. Both aquaculture and soil crop production depend, in large part, on ocean protein and mineral resources. The FAO reports that the oceans resources are in critical decline.

There are no simple answers to this problem, so education and awareness are at the heart of real solutions. Hope for the future depends on our collective ability to become effective stewards of our shared global ecosystems and the rich diversity of life that is anchored in the oceans, fertilized by the whales’ nutrient pump.

Marjorie Harris, IOIA VO and concerned organophyte.

References:
Roman, J., McCarthy, J.J. (2010). The Whale Pump: Marine Mammals Enhance Primary Productivity in a Coastal Basin. PLoS ONE 5(10): e13255. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013255
Reimchen, T.E. The Salmon Forest Project. University of Victoria. web.uvic.ca/~reimlab/salmonforest.html
Rodrigues, A.S.L., Charpetier, A., Bernal-Casasola D., et al. (2018). Forgotten Mediterranean calving grounds of grey and North Atlantic right whales: evidence from Roman archaeological records. Proc. R. Soc. B. 285: 20180961. 20180961. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0961
Speca, A. (2012). Speca: In the belly of the whaling commission. Northern Public Affairs. northernpublicaffairs.ca/index/in-the-belly-of-the-whaling-commission/
Oke, K.B., Cunningham, C.J., Westley, P.A.H. et al. (2020). Recent declines in salmon body size impact ecosystems and fisheries. Nat Commun. 11, 4155. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17726-z
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. General situation of world fish stocks. fao.org/newsroom/common/ecg/1000505/en/stocks.pdf
Lavery, T.J., Roudnew, B., Gill, P., et al. (2010). Iron defecation by sperm whales stimulates carbon export in the Southern Ocean. Proc. R. Soc. B. 277: 3527-3531. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.0863
Salleh, Anne. (2010). Sperm whales more than offset their carbon. ABC. abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/06/16/2927491.htm

iCertify Supports the Organic Movement: Umi Nami Farm

in 2021/Grow Organic/Organic Community/Organic Standards/Summer 2021

Originally started in Iwaki, Japan, Umi Nami Farm moved to Metchosin on southern Vancouver Island in 1996. The farm has been certified organic for more than 20 years.

Umi Nami Farm specializes in year-round production of Japanese vegetables and some Asian and Western produce. They use both unheated greenhouses (high tunnels) and outdoor fields to achieve year-round growing, and their small orchard supplies apples, pears, and plums.

As they prepared to do their 2020 organic certification renewal, Heather Ramsay from Umi Nami Farm says they were pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to use iCertify, COABC’s new online organic certification system.

“We weren’t so enthusiastic about the switch to an online system at first, but after seeing how easy it is to use, we’re liking it,” says Heather. “It serves as both an upload platform and a checklist for what we need to provide. It was nice having standardized premade records to make it easy to know what we do and don’t need to report.”

According to Heather, one of the biggest benefits of iCertify is that by helping growers to standardize their reporting, the work of reviewing all the applications—whether renewal or first-time—gets easier for the certifying body. This, in turn, helps keep costs low.

“As a grower, I also find it easier not having to wonder how much detail to go into,” says Heather. “The online system asks the questions I need to answer and provides forms to capture the information we need to record. I like that we have the option of photographing or scanning hand-written records and then uploading the electronic image.”

From Heather’s point of view as an organic farmer and organic farming advocate, iCertify also plays a larger role in the organic movement.

“Shifting to the online system makes sense to keep up with the times and to take ourselves seriously as a movement and as business owners,” says Heather.

“The organic movement has really grown. We expect more of our farms now than in the earlier years of the organic movement. And since BC’s mandatory organic regulations came into effect in 2018, we need to step up to the plate with documentation and traceability. A standardized online system is only one small part of the bigger picture, but it helps us in our efforts to efficiently function as the growing movement and robust businesses that we are.”

Funding for this project has been provided by the Governments of Canada and British Columbia through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative. The program is delivered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC.

Feature image: An aerial view of Umi Nami Farm in Metchosin. Credit: Umi Nami Farm

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Support Organic Farmers, Support Organic Change

in 2021/Organic Standards/Standards Updates/Summer 2021

Sydney Franc

Two thirds of Canadians purchase organic products weekly, and organic is the fastest growing part of the Canadian agriculture landscape. With a booming $6.9 billion in annual sales, Canada is the sixth largest organic market in the world. Yet, despite double digit production growth, demand continuously outpaces supply. Given this impressive and sustained growth, it is crucial to continue supporting Canada’s organic industry. Farms are the keystone component. Without sustained efforts to provide training in organic techniques and support Canadian farmers to transition to organic, Canada may find itself trailing behind in the global movement towards bettering agricultural systems.

As a response to growing domestic and international demand for Canadian organic products, the Canada Organic Trade Association (COTA) sought to support farms as they convert to certified organic. COTA launched the Organic Conversion Support Program in 2019, through the Support Organic Change Fund. The program assists converting and future organic producers financially with their added costs incurred while transitioning to organic farming by reimbursing producers for paid certification costs up to $1,000. The fund has proven to be a key piece by the organic industry in supporting and growing our supply chain through an incredibly difficult year for farmers.

Grapes on the vine. Credit: Scorched Earth Winery.

Seeds of Change has returned as a primary sponsor of the program, joined this year by Mill Street Brewery, as a way to give back to the organic community in recognition of their 20th Anniversary. Thanks to these generous funders, the 2019 edition of the Organic Conversion Support Program funded 41 farmers and contributed 6,167 new organic hectares nationwide.

“Our association is dedicated to strengthening the expansion of organic farming in Canada, and through COTA’s organic transition fund, more farmers won’t be left alone to bear the costs of certification on their own,” says Tia Loftsgard, Executive Director of the Canada Organic Trade Association. Tia adds, “Seeds of Change and Mill Street Brewery’s contributions to the program encourage more farmers to adopt organic practises on their land. Not only is this ensuring long term viability and sustainability of the Canadian landscape but also protecting the health and wellbeing of the farmers as they adopt more organic practises.”

Sunset lighting up the vineyard. Credit: Scorched Earth Winery.

The program has done a great deal in assisting farmers during the transition to organic farming. Converting to organic is no small feat for a farm. It requires a significant dedication of time and resources, something Canadian farmers often find lacking. And yet, year after year, farmers make the decision to join the movement.

Scorched Earth Winery in Kelowna, BC was one such farm supported by the Organic Conversion Support Program.  General manager Anita Pazdernik rationalises the choice her family made to convert the winery to organic farming practices: “After purchasing our vineyard, we submitted numerous soil test samples to determine how healthy the vineyard was. The lab results came back to show that we had ZERO organic matter and ZERO nutrients in the vineyard.” As she explains, the family “immediately chose to convert to organic after learning that the soil had been completely stripped of any nutrients whatsoever, after 30 years of conventional farming. We chose to grow organic because we strive for a sustainable future for our children, their children, and our pets.”

Coco assisting in the vineyard.Credit: Scorched Earth Winery.

In a year that has seen difficulties throughout the organic supply chain, the Organic Conversion Support Program has proven to be key to supporting and growing the organic supply chain at its most fundamental level. Building capacity and resiliency within Canada’s organic systems ensure a better future for all.

COTA is thrilled to announce that the program will be continuing on into a third year of funding. The Organic Conversion Support Program is continuing to support farmers, and applications for the 2020 reimbursement program will be open until June 30th, 2021. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis for producers who are in the process of converting, or who become certified in 2020 or 2021. In order to qualify for the program, farmers must be in their first, second, or third year of pre-certification, or already certified organic and increasing their organic acreage. Eligible costs are certification and consultation expenses, up to a maximum reimbursement of $1,000.

Want to learn more about our program guidelines? Find more information about the Organic Conversion Support program here:

canada-organic.ca/sites/default/files/2020_fund_overview_guidelines_eng_v2.pdf

Do you meet our Organic Conversion Support Program guidelines and want to apply? Get in touch with Caroline Bernard, Member Relations and Executive Coordinator at cbernard@canada-organic.ca.

Have a funding project you’d like to propose for COTA’s Support Organic Change Fund? Contact Kim De Lallo, Member Relations and Business Development Manager at kdelallo@canada-organic.ca.

canada-organic.ca

The Canada Organic Trade Association is a membership-based association for the organic industry in Canada: representing growers, processors, certifiers, provincial farmers’ associations, importers, exporters, retailers, and others throughout the organic value chain. COTA’s mission is to envision organic products becoming a significant part of everyday life, enhancing people’s lives and the environment. Through our leadership and collaboration, COTA provides a strong voice for organic in Canada. COTA brings together the diversity of Canada’s organic sector: from farmer and processor to retail, including food products, fibre and textiles, personal care, and emerging sectors such as organic aquaculture.

Feature image: overlooking the vineyards at Scorched Earth Winery. Credit: Scorched Earth Winery.

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Why I Joined a Farmer-Led Coalition Advocating for Climate Action

in 2021/Climate Change/Crop Production/Land Stewardship/Organic Community/Summer 2021

Arzeena Hamir

My husband Neil and I have been growing organic food for our community in the Comox Valley for nine seasons now. As a farmer, an agronomist, a food security activist, and a mother, ensuring the safety of our planet is really close to my heart. I have always farmed with the goal of giving back to the land and to my community, which has embraced our family farm and supported us in so many ways. This support led me to run for election in local government in 2018 and since then, I have been sitting as the Director of the Comox Valley Regional District. I love being able to advocate for local policies that will ensure the health and prosperity of our community.

I saw what I was able to achieve locally through my political involvement, and recognized the benefits it brought to my work as a farmer. In an effort to grow this impact, I sought out opportunities to reach the wider agricultural sector.

That’s when I found Farmers for Climate Solutions (FCS) and decided to get involved. FCS is a national coalition of farmers and farmer-supporters who believe that agriculture must be part of the solution to climate change. FCS currently represents over 20,000 farmers and ranchers across Canada, reflecting the vibrant diversity of the agricultural sector in terms of farm size, types of production, and farmers themselves.

The squash field at Amara Farm next to moveable hoophouse. Credit: Michaela Parks.

In just one year of operation, FCS has garnered some serious attention from the media and policy-makers. The coalition was launched in February 2020, marking Canada’s Agriculture Day. Shortly after their exciting launch, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Through the tragedy of countless losses across communities, I felt the weight of this pandemic on top of the growing threat of climate change to my livelihood as a farmer. FCS felt this too, and as our government planned to “build back better,” they asked: what does this mean for agriculture?

A smart, forward-thinking and lasting COVID-19 recovery should prioritize climate resilience on our farms. I was thrilled to see a report recommending five priorities to achieve this, from encouraging the energy transition on farms, providing incentives for climate-friendly practices, investing in farmer-to-farmer training, and supporting new and young farmers. These were priorities that I felt proud to develop even more as I formally joined the efforts of the coalition.

In September 2020, after an unprecedented commitment from the Speech to the Throne to farmers and ranchers, the Canadian government recognized us as key partners in the fight against climate change and pledged to support our efforts to reduce emissions and build resilience. In order to ensure that the government would deliver on their commitment, FCS set out to recruit a farmer-led task force of experts to propose short-term actions that would deliver long-term lasting benefits in emissions reductions and economic well-being. The short list of recommendations was to be advanced for Budget 2021 to inform the next agricultural policy framework in 2023.

Neil Turner and Arzeena Hamir. Credit: Michaela Parks.

I initially signed up as an interested farmer and attended a focus group, and then ultimately took on the role of task force co-chair, where I shared leadership with fellow farmer Ian McCreary, who farms grain and livestock in Saskatchewan. Together, we led a team of members with expertise in agricultural economy, greenhouse gas (GHG) modeling, and domestic and international agricultural policy analysis, to advance six high-impact programs that would reduce on-farm GHG emissions and build resilience. I am also working with fellow British Columbian and long-time friend, Abra Brynne, on an equity analysis of these recommendations to ensure that we do not leave out BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, and other equity-seeking farmers, and that supports are accessible to all farmers.

Being part of this team was incredible. Meeting farmers from across Canada who were equally committed to climate action was so heartening. Having access to Canada’s best GHG modellers and scientists was fascinating and I was able to expose myself to a whole area of lobbying and policy development at a federal level that I had never been involved in. I got to meet the federal Minister of Agriculture, Marie-Claude Bibeau! Ultimately, with this team, we were able to make the case for how agriculture could really be a powerhouse for climate mitigation and that message was heard.

Over the course of several months, FCS held over 20 meetings to engage with representatives from the federal government to promote and refine our budget recommendations. We often heard positive and hopeful feedback from these meetings, commending the evidence-based and detailed research our group had brought forward. Essentially, we were championing climate-friendly farming practices that have been proven to reduce emissions and are cost-effective for both farmers and the government.

An Amara Farm worker harvesting field cucumbers. Credit: Amara Farm.

We launched our budget recommendation report on February 23rd 2021, once again marking Canada’s Agriculture Day with a national media tour to help amplify the voices of farmers who are already implementing these practices on their farms and who have seen the benefits on their business and the environment. This really reinforced the most important potential that I see for Farmers for Climate Solutions: we are shifting the viewpoint that farmers are solely the victims of climate change, and recognizing that we are also valuable actors in moving the agriculture sector forward.

Our team waited for the announcement of the budget with bated breath. In a year where the government had to prioritize funding immense gaps left by the pandemic, we were hoping that a climate-focused budget for agriculture would also make the cut, and it did. This historic win for our sector showed us that the government is committing to supporting farmers directly to scale up adoption of climate-friendly farming. Because we can no longer wait to act. With only nine growing seasons left to achieve Canada’s target under the 2030 Paris Agreement, and our agricultural emissions projected to rise, we urgently needed this kind of meaningful support to lead the climate transition in our sector.

Farmers are already leading the way, and have shown their innovation and resilience in the face of many challenges, and climate change is no different. There is a growing movement of farmers who are inspiring change, from fence post to fence post, and now we have concrete support to ensure we can harness the positive impact that our sector can have on the environment. I feel incredibly proud to be part of seeing this change happen across millions of acres of farmland in Canada.

Read more:

farmersforclimatesolutions.ca

farmersforclimatesolutions.ca/recovery-from-covid19

farmersforclimatesolutions.ca/budget-2021-recommendation

farmersforclimatesolutions.ca/news-and-stories/budget-2021-represents-historical-win-for-canadian-agriculture

Arzeena Hamir is the owner of Amara Farm in Courtenay, BC and a Director of the Comox Valley Regional District.

Feature image: Arzeena Hamir harvesting beans in the field at Amara Farm. Credit: Michaela Parks.

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Biodynamic Farm Story: Late Pandemic Musings on Thriving, Not Just Surviving

in 2021/Crop Production/Land Stewardship/Organic Community/Preparation/Soil/Summer 2021

Anna Helmer

The Biodynamic baseline regeneration mission: replace the vitality of the soil—successfully drawn into the plants and then removed along with the crop, for consumption. In Biodynamics, the way to do this is through composting—the creation of humus that supports soil to regain its power.

The Biodynamic Compost Preparations are the fertility tools of Biodynamics. Steiner wants us to think of them as forces, rather than items, substances, or amendments. They are not directly aimed at plant growth, but rather intended to compliment, enhance, energize, and enliven the soil. Soil thusly treated can grow the very best of crops.

Compare this to nutrient replacement programs that are aimed at crop yield. Soil, although obviously important, is not the object of support. It’s necessary as a vessel to hold amendments long enough and close enough for plant roots to find them, and of course, it is there to hold the plants upright. Luckily for soil, nothing else does a better job of this! However, in the pursuit of weed-free big yields, it tends to get neglected and its performance diminishes. Biodynamically-supported, it is capable of much more.

The Compost Preparations transform compost into a special treat for the soil itself, to the benefit of the crop: holding moisture and warmth, for example, and providing the conditions necessary for essential relationships to form and flourish between all the biological, chemical, and physical elements. Most importantly, as far as I can understand, the application of Biodynamic compost allows for the possibility that science doesn’t have all the answers and optimum plant growth and health-giving properties are the result of mysterious things that probably occur in healthy soil.

It is difficult for me to reconcile this grand notion with the reality of my scraggly heap of cull potatoes. It doesn’t look like a regenerative treat for the soil.

My compost heap is beginning to levitate.

This is not a Biodynamic accomplishment. It’s a seed potato situation.

As you may recall, I am attempting to create a Biodynamic compost pile that will digest cull potatoes into useful material, an expectation made necessary by a sad lack of cattle, those immensely more efficient composting machines. I started the pile in late fall, layering the rejected potatoes with hay, kitchen compost, chicken litter, leaves, and eggshells. By way of example, I added periodic scoops of a precious Biodynamic compost made from the manure of the departed cattle.

The culls that went in during the winter months are good and rotten, having been subjected to freezing, but the additions since the last freeze have encountered nothing but premium growing conditions. They are vigorous seed potatoes with only unsightly blemishes to hold them back.

Unsightly blemishes have no effect on vigour, I can tell you that for free. The potatoes are growing lustily, and the pile is expanding rapidly.

I dug into it earlier in the year, once the sun had some warmth, to see what was happening. It was hot in there, with a plethora of worms. I reckon all these seed potatoes are now sitting on top of a nice warm bed and that is making them grow with even more gusto. Should I leave them to flower? That would be a lovely sight. At any rate, there will be a generous amount of fresh green material when I turn the pile and finish it by adding the Compost Preparations.

It’s a reasonable plan. However, these potatoes are currently dominating the compost pile, and I think it might take more than one turn to stifle their urges. Talk about a living force. I don’t think I should apply the Compost Preparations until the pile becomes…more balanced…inert…less unhinged…   

Turning to a more optimistic aspect of my Biodynamic practice, I am thrilled to discover that all the plants necessary to make the Compost Preparations are to be found on our farm. Oak tree bark was the missing piece until I belatedly realized there is a massive specimen looming out front of mom and dad’s house, right there in the main farmyard. I have been raking its copious leaves for about 40 years and lamenting almost annually that they are useless in a compost heap. One supposes a proper Biodynamic farmer would be a touch more aware of her surroundings. Anyways. Turns out the bark is full of calcium and it plays a big role in making strong plants.

So that’s the lot: oak bark, along with yarrow, stinging nettle, dandelion, valerian, and chamomile.

Just need a stag’s bladder, dog skull, and sheep mesentery. Say, what? Oh shoot, it got weird again.

Anna Helmer farms with her family in Pemberton, and still does not exactly know what she’s going to do everyday. helmersorganic.com

Feature image: Russian blue heart potatoes. Credit: Idéalités

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2021 BC Organic Conference Recap

in 2021/Organic Community/Spring 2021

Stacey Santos

You’ve heard it a thousand times, but I’m going to say it again. This past year was a year like no other. The pandemic affected—and continues to affect—every aspect of our lives: our health, our social lives, our businesses. It’s been a year of humbling learning experiences, pivoting to new directions, and figuring out that it really doesn’t matter if your naked toddler interrupts your Zoom call to ask you for help with her dragon costume.

Throughout all of this, we’ve watched the organic community come together under pressure and become stronger and more supportive than ever. And while the ride isn’t over yet, we were so happy to be able to take a moment and reconnect with many of you at the 2021 BC Organic Conference.

This year’s conference took place on February 28, 2021 and was entirely virtual (we hoped we would be able to carry out some socially distanced farm tours, but alas). Conference attendees had early access to 40-plus podcasts spanning all aspects of food systems and organic farming in BC as well as a chance to bid on some fantastically creative items in the silent auction.

The live event was a giant Zoom call with opening remarks from Heather Stretch (COABC president), Eva-Lena Lang (COABC executive director), Ian Paton (opposition critic for agriculture) and the Honourable Lana Popham (Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries), who hinted at big announcements coming from the provincial government on food hubs, support for local seed production, and changes to meat regulations!

Farmers Take the Lead

Next up was the conference keynote from Darrin Qualman, Director of Climate Crisis Policy & Action at the National Farmers Union. Darrin spoke about emission problems and organic agriculture solutions, and wrapped up with a Q&A session with conference attendees. In case you missed it, or want to relive the conference magic, you can watch Darrin’s presentation on our YouTube channel.

COABC Awards…with a Virtual Twist

Normally, our annual COABC awards are presented at the conference’s closing banquet. This year, we obviously couldn’t do that—so our conference coordinator, Jordan Marr, got creative.

In our conference podcast, we surprised the award recipients with the news, and at our live conference session, we gave them a chance to say a few words in front of their peers. And, gave their peers a chance to say a few words about them!

This year, Mary Alice Johnson and Rod Reid received the Bedrock Award, and Arzeena Hamir took home the Brad Reid Award. There isn’t enough room here to say all that needs to be said, so please head over to our blog to learn more about the winners and why they’re so incredibly deserving of their awards.

Conference photo contest winner – category: Fail.
Credit: Spray Creek Ranch

And so Much More

Conference attendees also took part in three Q&A sessions with podcast guests and voted on their favourite images in the photo contest. The live session wrapped up with a small group visioning discussion, to take the pulse of the COABC community and make sure the organization knows what’s going on and what’s important to everyone. It was a great discussion with some big ideas, and as always, we thank you for sharing your thoughts so honestly and generously.

A big part of what made this conference so special (other than seeing so many of your shining faces, of course), was all the planning and work that went into it. This was a brand-new format for us, and it took many folks wearing many different hats to make it happen!

For some final insights into the conference and some thoughts on what’s next, I caught up with Jordan, this year’s conference coordinator and podcast producer for Q&A:

The 2021 BC Organic Conference was a radical change from past conferences. How did it all come about?

The first question for the conference committee was to decide whether we’d have a conference at all, and in what format. As a committee we collectively decided it was worth having something for continuity, and because we could produce something of value. We knew we couldn’t reproduce the social component, but could reproduce the networking and education components in some way. We decided to have a virtual conference and started brainstorming!

I suggested that we consider making an audio series rather than webinars, which tie attendees to a screen. A podcast is a great way to consume information and would be more accommodating to people’s busy lives. The committee briefly talked about it and ultimately agreed it was a good idea. That was the first major decision and from there we came up the rest of the details.

The podcast really was the centrepiece of the conference in terms of the amount of content it involved. How did you pull it off?

I had produced a hobby podcast for years and I’m super comfortable with the basic technology and the audio software. No question marks there.

But, this was the first time I oversaw a team of interviewers. The volunteer interviewers were really great! In some ways, organizing the interviews wasn’t all that different from organizing speakers at the conference. But, it’s cheaper and easier to get people involved. It was a really busy November and December when the podcast got recorded and produced.

From a coordinator’s perspective, how did the conference go?

I think the most positive way to look at it is that we had to start from scratch and figure out what to do. If someone from the future told us we’d have almost 200 people participating, and a podcast with almost 40 episodes, not including the tradeshow episodes…

Overall the conference was fairly well received, and so was the podcast. One special thing about the podcast is that it very much turned into a podcast about the BC organic community, by the BC organic community. Not many farming and food podcasts are so focused on British Columbia. That’s something worth keeping in the future.

And the live session—I underestimated how special it would feel. I was skeptical of the online communication space. And after the year we’ve all had, it was really cool. If I had to do it all over again, I would have created a few more opportunities for small group interaction. The day was weighted too heavily towards large groups.

There’s talk of carrying the podcast into future years, even if we’re able to hold an in-person conference. Is there anything you would change?

For this year’s podcast, I took a light touch to editing. Next year I would consider having fewer episodes, with more time invested in each one.

An ongoing challenge, even in prior years, is choosing the right topics for the education sessions. That can only come from good participation. It’s hard for a small committee—even one like ours with good representation—to create a lineup of topics that would please a wide group of people. There’s a bias towards small to medium scale farmers, and with a committee, there’s also a bias towards the members’ own interests. And I can’t stress enough—I represent those biases.

When it comes to decision making, I had great support from the committee. But when the rubber hit the road, I made the decisions and I take responsibility for that. The podcast could have seen more representation as far as identity politics, gender perspectives, and people of colour. Also glaringly absent was enough content from BC-based Indigenous peoples.

It doesn’t hurt to try harder to get more perspectives presented, whether it’s the size of the farms or the perspective of different groups in the province.

Any parting thoughts?

It’s really great that so many people embraced this new idea. And if we have to do it again in this format, we’ll improve. We’ll miss the social elements though!

And, as a coordinator, I really had a lot of help with great support from the office. I had a lot of fun getting to know all the people. I also noticed more people signing up to play a small role in next year’s conference committee. The committee is mainly comprised of people on the COABC board or the board of a certifying body, but anyone’s welcome to join. On the conference evaluation, if you want to put your name forward, please do!

A big thanks to everyone who made the 2021 BC Organic Conference possible: Jordan Marr, volunteer interviewers, podcast guests, conference committee members, COABC staff & contractors, event sponsors, silent auction donors and the Institute for Community Engaged Research at UBC Okanagan for offering technical expertise, tools, and a physical space for broadcasting the online event. Until next year!

Feature image: Conference photo contest winner – category: closeup. Credit: Big Rock Ranch

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Building Bridges

2023 BC Organic Conference Recap By Stacey Santos Mentorship. Perseverance. Kindness. Relationships. More than words, these ideas were penned and

Incubating Certified Organic Farmers at Haliburton

in 2021/Grow Organic/Organic Community/Spring 2021

Erin Bett

Our farm, Fierce Love Farm, is a one-acre vegetable, fruit, and flower farm in Saanich on unceded W̱SÁNEĆ territory. We are part of Haliburton Community Organic Farm, which is a beautiful piece of farmland in the middle of the Victoria suburbs.

Haliburton Farm operates as an incubator farm: new farmers can lease plots between half an acre and one acre for a short-term lease of up to eight years to start their farm business. Our farm, and all the other farmers at Haliburton Farm, are certified organic through the Islands Organic Producers Association (IOPA).

While Haliburton Farm operates somewhat differently than other IOPA incubator farms, since it is run by a non-profit society on publicly owned land, it served as part of the inspiration for IOPA’s incubator farm policy. The incubator farm policy aims to expand the opportunities for new farmers to start organic farms with the support of established IOPA farmers.

We started our farm business at Haliburton Farm in 2018, and are entering our fourth season. After both completing the UBC Farm Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture and working for many years on farms throughout the province, we were ready to take the leap and start our own farm. With land prices what they are in BC, and especially on the west coast, we knew our only option was to lease land. When the opportunity to join Haliburton Farm’s incubator model opened up, we jumped at the chance, and have benefited from it greatly.

Jon harvesting leeks. Credit: Fierce Love Farm.

Farming at an incubator farm gave us the head start that leasing a raw piece of land from a private landowner never could have. With the key infrastructure like hoop houses, irrigation, and a walk-in cooler in place, and existing plantings of cane fruits in the ground, we were able to hit the ground running in our first season.

Kevin Allen, who also started Elemental Farm at Haliburton in 2018, adds, “The incubator policy has created the opportunity to start the farm business in a stable and supportive environment. This will be the fourth year of Elemental Farm’s operations and I am grateful this incubator policy exists.” He highlights that the incubator allowed them to start small and build their level of investment over time, as their risk tolerance increased. “For example,” he says, “we didn’t need to invest so heavily in the fixed assets of a cooler.”

Our plot had been farmed by two previous farmers before us, so we were also inheriting years of work building the soil. We were incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to work for the farmer whose plot we took over, Northstar Organics, the year prior to starting our farm. Having the mentorship of Shawn Dirksen on the land we would be farming, was invaluable to our business. Hearing his experiences, successes, and cautions gleaned over his time on the land gave us history and knowledge that would have taken years to collect on our own—a true gift to have before even putting pen to paper for our crop and marketing plans. Even three years later, he is only a phone call away to help us troubleshoot.

Being part of an incubator farm also gave us access to existing marketing channels. Our large stall at the local farmers’ market already had name recognition, and over the last three years we have worked hard to expand our dedicated customer base. We also partner with three other Haliburton Farm current and former lessees to collectively market our produce to restaurant and small grocer customers, which is coordinated by a fourth former Haliburton Farm lessee.

This combination of support, infrastructure, and our previous experience has allowed us to focus on the thing we didn’t have experience with—running a business. We have since been working to expand our own CSA, as we have always loved the CSA model and the connection with our community that it brings, and grow our farm to bring on more staff and our systems, while we plan for the future and a more permanent home for our farm.

While for us, the thought of starting over on another piece of land is daunting, and the barriers to land access for farmers are all too real, we are grateful that we have been able to start our farm business at Haliburton Farm.

Kevin’s farm has grown beyond the borders of Haliburton, too. “Starting last year, we were able to find another plot to lease and expand our plantings,” says Kevin. “We’ve now graduated out of the incubator policy and are continuing to search for more land to lease.”

Much needs to be done to make sure we set up the next generation of organic farmers for success, and incubator farms like Haliburton Farm are an important piece of the farm landscape. Haliburton Farm is celebrating its 20th year of operation this year, and as a member of the IOPA certification committee, I’m so excited to see applications from new farmers, who are being mentored by established organic farmers under the incubator farm policy.

If you would like more information about IOPA’s Incubator Policy and you are located within IOPA’s region of Vancouver Island and surrounding islands, reach out to admin@iopa.ca.

Erin Bett farms at Fierce Love Farm, a diverse, small-scale, organic farm located at Haliburton Community Organic Farm in Saanich, BC. Erin and her farm partner Jon are two first-generation farmers growing a variety of high-quality vegetables, berries, and flowers on one acre of leased land.

Feature image: Erin Bett showing off a bucket full of dahlias. Credit: Fierce Love Farm

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iCertify: Mr. Mercy’s Mushrooms

in 2021/Marketing/Organic Community/Organic Standards/Spring 2021

Corinne Impey

Mr. Mercy’s Mushrooms is a family-run seasonal mushroom farm in Kaslo, BC.

Now in their fifth year of business, and their second year being BC Certified Organic, they specialize in gourmet mushroom varieties such as shiitake, oyster, and lion’s mane, among many others. They also produce spawn, grow-at-home kits, and other cultivation supplies.

As a member of the Kootenay Organic Growers Society (KOGS), Robin Mercy of Mr. Mercy’s Mushrooms was able to use iCertify for the first time in 2021 to complete their annual certification online.

“Although there were some small redundancies as I moved over from the old system to iCertify, I felt that for the most part the system was intuitive and there wasn’t too much of a learning curve,” says Robin. “There was a bit of work to be done reformatting some of my information to align with new wordings and questions, but I’m hopeful that come 2022, a renewal should be much easier using this system.”

Robin Mercy. Credit: Mr. Mercy’s Mushrooms.

Robin was one of many operators from KOGS who used iCertify for the 2021 season.

“KOGS was very excited to begin transitioning part of our membership this year to the iCertify platform,” says Emma Sowiak, KOGS chair. This was in part because it meant lightening the load on their certification committee—by moving away from boxes of hefty paper files—and also because it afforded them the opportunity to refresh their current application.

“iCertify has added more scope and detail to the application process, especially for our specialty growers like Robin. For example, this gives both the operator and the certification committee a better understanding of what is involved in growing organic mushrooms!”

For Robin at Mr. Mercy’s Mushrooms, a few key features in iCertify stood out.

“I think the way that it’s possible to choose which sections apply to your operation is really important. As a producer of mushrooms that are container-grown in greenhouses, there’s a lot of differences between my application and a typical soil-based crop application, and it’s nice to be able to choose up-front which parts of the application are relevant.”

Reishi mushroom. Credit: Mr. Mercy’s Mushrooms.

He also used iCertify’s newest feature, a searchable database of input products that have already been approved by each participating certifying body (CB) for use in organic production.

This new feature includes a simplified way for members to request and receive approval for products directly from within the iCertify portal. It also includes the ability for each member to track their own list of approved products and monitor the approval expiry dates.

“Most of my inputs had not been listed yet, but I think it’ll be easy and quick to get input approval in the future once the list is expanded,” says Robin. “And even though individual CBs are still responsible for approving inputs and applications, it’s nice to have some shared information.”

Beyond completing his application and looking forward to using the approved products database, Robin also says iCertify has great value for the industry as a whole.

“I think it’s important to have a standardized application process province-wide, and an online one like iCertify seems like the best choice.”

Now that his online application has been submitted, Robin is looking ahead to what the rest of 2021 has in store for Mr. Mercy’s Mushrooms.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, there’s been a big increase in inquiries about growing supplies,” says Robin. “We’re responding to that need by focusing on producing high quality kits and spawn, and creating educational media and courses outlining ways to grow mushrooms at home. We are also working to get more of our products available for online purchase. On the fresh mushroom front, we’re hoping to increase production by around 50%, and expand our Mushroom Box CSA program to Nelson, BC. It’s a lot to keep up with, but should be a very exciting year for us!”

Funding for this project has been provided by the Governments of Canada and British Columbia through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative, under the Canada-BC Agri-Innovation Program. The program is delivered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC.

Featured image: A selection of certified organic mushrooms. Credit: Mr. Mercy’s Mushrooms

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Ag Tech Breaking Down Barriers

By Crystal Arsenault Innovative technology for agriculture is all the buzz these days and farmers appear receptive to trying new

Regenerative Agriculture is the Way of the Future

in 2021/Grow Organic/Organic Community/Organic Standards/Spring 2021

Certification is Helping Define Best Practices

Travis Forstbauer

This article first appeared in Country Life in BC and is reprinted here with gratitude.

Soil health is the foundation of any healthy organic farm. While modern agriculture has primarily focused on nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, soil health from an organic perspective focuses on the health and diversity of microscopic and macroscopic life in the soil.

The foundation of all life is carbon, so on an organic farm, soil health can often be directly related to soil organic matter (soil carbon). So, it is with cautious optimism that the BC Association for Regenerative Agriculture (BCARA) welcomes the renewed focus on regenerative agriculture.

Use of the term “regenerative agriculture” has exploded over the past few years. However, this is not a new philosophy. In North America, Indigenous peoples had been practicing forms of regenerative agriculture for thousands of years before the Europeans came and settled. In more recent times, during the early 20th century after the industrialization of agriculture, European farmers were noticing significant decreasing crop yields. Rudolf Steiner attributed this in part to depleted soil health and gave instruction that laid the foundation for biodynamic agriculture, a regenerative system of agriculture dedicated to building soil life.

Then through the mid to late 20th century, pioneers like J.I. Rodale, Lady Balfour, Robert Rodale, and the lesser-known Ehrenfried Pfeiffer championed organic agriculture practices that, at their heart, were regenerative. Through the 1980s and 1990s this movement blossomed to what is known as organic agriculture.

In 1986, as part of the early organic agriculture movement, a group of farmers in the Fraser Valley organized themselves to create the BCARA. An early definition of regenerative agriculture that they settled on was:

BCARA went on to become a leader in the early organic movement in BC, where, at the grassroots of organic agriculture, was the belief that every organic farm should strive to be regenerative in its practices. Soil health expressed as life in the soil, has always been the foundation of organic agriculture.

“Regenerative Agriculture is both a philosophy and a farm management system. Philosophically, it says that there is within people, plants, animals and the world itself a way of recovery that both comes from within and carries the recovery process beyond previous levels of well-being. Robert Rodale says, “Regeneration begins with the realization that the natural world around us is continually trying to get better and better.

Over the past 30 years much has changed in both organic and conventional agriculture and over the past few years the term “regenerative agriculture” has been loosely used for a variety of farming systems. There is a general understanding that a regenerative farming system captures carbon and helps to mitigate climate change. There are many organizations that have jumped onto this wave of regenerative agriculture. But the term “regenerative agriculture” is not regulated like the term organic. There is no governing body overseeing the use of this term and as a result it has been loosely used and often misused and this is of concern to BCARA.”

Travis Forstbauer on the farm. Credit: Forstbauer Farm

There are some that believe that no-till agriculture systems are more regenerative than organic systems that perform some tillage. However, we fundamentally disagree with this assertion. Many of these no-till systems still rely on toxic herbicides such as glyphosate, and while we applaud agriculture producers’ actions to build soil life, capture carbon, and mitigate climate change, BCARA holds the position that any form of agriculture with the goal to be regenerative should have a foundation of organic practices.

BCARA believes that the healthiest, cleanest food is produced in a regenerative agricultural system, without the use of herbicides, pesticides, and agrochemicals. Regenerative agriculture strives to be a closed loop system whereas the production of these agrochemicals is CO2 intensive and are often produced long distances from the farm.

In the US, a regenerative agriculture standard has been developed called Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC). This certification requires the operation to be certified organic to be designated as regenerative. Certification is on a tiered system of bronze, silver, and gold. The farm is granted certification based on how many regenerative practices they use on their farm as defined in the ROC standard. It is our view that this is the gold standard of regenerative certification.

Currently, there are countless researchers, soil advocates, and organizations doing the much-needed work to shift the collective focus of agriculture towards regenerative practices. These people and organizations include Gabe Brown, Elaine Ingham, Matt Powers, Zach Bush of Farmers Footprint, Maria Rodale and the Rodale Institute, Ryland Engelhart and Finnian Makepeace from the film Kiss the Ground, the Regenerative Organic Alliance, the Canadian Organic Trade Association, and the list goes on and on.

Much like organic agriculture has evolved, the understanding of regenerative agriculture will continue to evolve and BCARA looks forward to being a leading voice for regenerative agriculture in BC.

Travis Forstbauer is president of BCARA, an organic certification body that certifies farms and businesses across the province of BC. He farms alongside his wife and children, his father Hans, his brother Niklaus and his family, sister Rosanna and many other family members throughout the growing season. Together they steward Forstbauer Farm, a multigenerational, certified organic, biodynamic farm located in Chilliwack.

Feature image: Cows in field. Credit: Forstbauer Farm

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