About Certification

Customers, who have bought our yoghurt for some time might have noticed some changes in the labeling. We used to say, that we are certified by the Bio-dynamic Society of Ontario since 1988 and now we simply state that we are certified organic by Ecocert.

Now, what does this really mean? Without getting too technical about the development of the organic farm movement in Canada, and the certification process in particular, we thought it helpful to give some background information about this and where we stand. It is important to us that the buyers of our product know where it comes from and how it is made and really what this whole farming thing is all about.

When we started farming here in the middle of the eighties the organic farm movement and especially the marketing of organic foods was still in its infancy. The certification process was largely farmer driven and also executed, because we all did it and believed in it and the selling of products was somewhat of an afterthought. It was certainly not the driving force behind the transition of many farmers at the time and so the certification  as an organic farm was more like a peer recognition badge, which had also a substantial educational component.

As the market started to develop and grow the certification process became more professionalized.

In North America California was the first state to implement an official set of rules and regulations and many old-time organic food buyers will remember the reference to that set of rules on many labels in the nineties. With the arrival of “official” organic rules came the forming of a growing number of organizations, whose main purpose it is to apply and police these rules and regulations in a professional way.

While the old system worked largely on trust and mutual interest in the ideology of the organic farm movement, the new generation of third party accredited inspection bodies is far more detached and unbiased.

We may lament the change of times and all that comes with it, but the organic industry, as it is often called now, has matured and while we have certainly lost some personal flair we had to gain independent credibility.

Coming back to our own position, we still practice bio-dynamic farming methods and are also certified as such by Demeter Canada, but because Demeter Canada is a fairly small organization and it lacks the funds to get third party accreditation, we are officially certified organic by Ecocert Canada.

If you are further interested in those two organizations you can get all kinds of information on their respective websites and their standards.

In our hearts we will always identify ourselves with the bio-dynamic principles, because it is a truly holistic and organic farming system, but for trade purposes we have to, for the time being, also be certified by an officially recognized certifying body.