About Us
This modern regenerative farm is a big experiment...
Of course most people care about where their food comes from, how it’s raised and how it got to their plate, but we're experimenting with the next logical question;
What proof would you want?
How confident would you like to be? Do you want to be able to vouch for your food? Would you want to brag about your food?? Do you want access to your own farm — one that you can visit, teach your kids about, and know everything there is to know about each flock that's raised? Do you want to see your hens that lay your eggs, see your chickens range in their pasture before they grace your plate?
We're farming for people like you who want to understand this process directly from the source.
- the welfare of the animal they served to their family
- the operational transparency of how that animal got to you
- the knowledge that 10% of everything your farm produces goes to food banks
- and the feeling of confidence in knowing how your animal lived, expressed their innate desires, and died, in order to be an integral nutritious contribution to the growth of your kids and health of your family.
We're building a truly regenerative farm for you that's open and transparent with our operational processes and data.
A farm that lets you vouch for your food.
Our Credo: a little bit about what we stand for
First off, if you're going to buy our products, then we consider it yours from day one.
You should expect the process to be transparent and even open to your input.
These aren't 'our' chickens, this isn't 'our' farm; they're 'your' chickens, your farm. We're simply stewards of the process. We intend for you to be supremely proud of what you're investing in.
Think of us as farming-as-a-service and think of yourself as the Executive Farmer, investing in a farming vision and delegating farming execution to us.
You already have a professional team: an accountant, a lawyer, a physiotherapist, a financial advisor etc... Think of us as your personal Heads of Modern Farming Operations. Your nutrition and that of your family will assume a level of assured animal welfare, you will have supported food security initiatives in your city, and you will be promoting environmentally sustainable and regenerative practices to bring food to your table.
Our Process
Starts with the soil.
We're transitioning 46 acres west of Toronto from conventionally cropped, hard compact clay, to deep nutrient rich soil. This will eventually be certified as Regenerative Organic (up to a three year process).
We're doing this using regenerative practices: planting cover crops, adding rotational grazing, and investing in bringing back deep biodiversity.
We go beyond just the soil to ensure a high-quality work environment, employment practices, and connecting with academic institutions to be part of the solution of next generation modern farming.
The result will be an increase in productivity per acre for both nutritional output and what you can give back to the community.
The Data
We publish flock level data;
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Days lived
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Weather experienced
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Injury / mortality rates
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Cleanliness efforts
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Growth curves
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How often that animal moved to fresh pasture
- GPS and location data on how that animal travelled across the farm.
As well as a tremendous amount of social media photo, video, and livestream content.
We've baselined over 20 GPS tagged soil cores to understand our starting point in terms of organic material, soil composition, and chemical makeup. As the data becomes available season over season, we'll publish the environmental, soil changes, and even carbon sequestration improvements.
Governance
A quick note on governance.. because it matters a lot.
As mentioned, we're working towards our Regenerative Organic Certification; it's a 36 month process from now, 2021, and includes annual inspections from the organic certification body.
Furthermore, we're licensed through the Chicken Farmers of Ontario's Artisanal Chicken producer program and are subject to a high degree of record keeping on flock health and welfare. They audit us once a year as well.
Finally, we're putting together an ESG (Environmental Social Governance) dashboard, similar to what institutional investors would expect from a company when allocating ESG funds. Our governance structure follows investor grade reporting standards, SASB Agricultural Products Sustainability Accounting Standard FB-AG.
Why Us?
It shouldn't be us. We're not 'farmers'.
Eliana has her MSc., and is a Registered Dietitian who focuses on food-first dietary approaches shown to prevent, improve, reverse and possibly put chronic disease into remission. She regularly educates other healthcare professionals on these dietary approaches and is currently working at the University of British Columbia to publish research from her clinical data.
Andrew is a technology executive (most recently the COO of a medical education company), an engagement manager by trade, with a computer science and finance background, and an MBA. He teaches and consults on marketing fundamentals and helps companies build deep understandings of their customers.
The closest thing we have to traditional farming is Eliana's father, who, while recently retired, has a Ph.D. in no-till agriculture engineering, and has worked in over 60 countries consulting for food security initiatives for the past 50 years.
What both Eliana and Andrew do have is over 10 years of building the vision for this farm. They visited Joel Salatin's Polyface Farms back in 2011, and when COVID-19 spread, they moved their family from Toronto to their family farm in order to build their modern farm dream.
It's time.
What next?
Thanks for reading this far. So before we ask anything of you, please ask something, anything of us. You can't NOT have a question or comment! email us here.
Definitely have a look at the food banks people, like you, have helped by letting us farm for you.
If you’re interested in our business and want to learn more, join our email list for info and early pre-sale access to each flock.
Consider following us on social
If you've got a party planned (assuming we're all reopened), consider purchasing one or two of our chickens.