Organic?

Every year organic foods are becoming the preferred choice for more and more consumers.

Food health and safety standards are in place to regulate chemical use in conventional agriculture with the purpose of preserving safe consumption levels. This includes testing for maximum residues post harvest and guidelines on minimum periods after spraying.

Despite this, people are starting to realise that they have lost touch with the source of their food. The conventional industry is under significant pressure for price competitiveness from supermarket chains with massive buying power and the need to feed an increasing population. This is leading to skepticism around the methods used to meet these demands including the use of 'non-residual' herbicides, fumigation of produce, longterm storage and transport. Industrialised organic agriculture often uses similar intensive practices, heavy machinery and transport. The reliance of our current system on monocultures, chemical inputs and importing products may also affect our future food security.

Internationally there has been a movement back towards small farms with produce sold locally and fresh. This greatly reduces the environmental impact associated with farming and transport while retaining the best taste and nutrients for the consumer. We want to put the satisfaction back into your diet!

There are a number of certifying bodies and pathways for New Zealand grown produce with the most widely recognised being BioGrow Cert. This involves a 2 - 3 year commitment with the logging of inputs and independent verification, as well as a significant yearly fee. As this is our first season growing organic produce for sale we don't intend to register for certification until we have assessed the longterm potential of this dream of ours... Instead we are relying on building close relationships with our potential customers and we hope you feel free to stop in anytime for a tour of our small farm!