Dispatches from the Past: Organic farmers are light years ahead of you (or at least a ‘light year’)….‏

(Editor’s Note:

This originally went out on March 20, 2014.

Leah)

Rainbow peppers landed at COM on St. Patty’s Day (frozen and diced and neatly packaged from Northern Girl, I might add!)……

Now, let’s turn them into a pot of gold or soup, depending on your perspective!

Good Morning!

This past week organic farmers sent in their certification applications or renewals. Considered by some to be just paperwork, certification actually entails a good deal of thought put in to crop selection, markets, opportunity, pros & cons of certification, and a bit of review of which crops ran out when and whether we can expand or extend that season.

Many of you, like me, have noticed how quickly we’ve run out of such staples as beets, colored carrots, rutabaga, daikon, cabbage. The good news is its not because there was less available, but because we sold it more quickly. Organic farmers across the state are gearing up for a busy year, because above and beyond the produce they sell through us, to you, market for organic produce continues to expand.

The market for all Maine grown and produced goods continues to grow, without a doubt, but in the world I work in, the preference is heard and recognized for certified organic produce. That’s not to say there aren’t customers for farms using organic practices but choosing not to certify, because there certainly are. We continue to offer both non-organic produce and organic, and enjoy using our business as a ‘pathway to certification’ where that makes sense for the farm.

Along with developing our ‘regular’ market, there continue to be larger opportunities for organic growers to (pun intended) grow into. We hope that blending these opportunities will help increase supply for you, and for us!

So as you think about your food purchases this year, remember that in order to feature organic produce items on the list at the end of March, someone, some very dedicated certified organic grower, was thinking of you a year ago today.

Imagine a world where the makers of food think about your health and well being for a year (or even years) before it enters your body.

It turns out that matter matters, and farmers, stewards of our land and co-stewards of our health, have been hoping for some decades that their customer base will join them in this understanding.

Convergence is happening.

Converge those orders right on over to us, please!

Marada