Tomato Harvest

My wife and I get asked from time to time “Why don’t you get certified Organic?”

The short answer is - we would rather be transparent that organic!

Our laying hens out on pasture

The long answer is much more complicated, but first a little background at least the way that we see it……Organic food really started to get traction in the last 10 to 15 years and in its beginning, you could by organic food from folks like us. Food grown and raised without harmful chemicals or medicated animals. The food was pure, simple and nutritious. Some folks, like us, prefer a different way of growing and raising food; we choose not to use chemicals and hormones and anti-bio-tics in our processes. This way, became known as organic food production, and later shortened to just organic.Well the inevitable happened and we started to take market share away from the corporate production farmers and the production animal producers. This caused a problem and with any problem the government thinks it has a solution…..

Regulation………

Image Source

They told everybody that the regulation was to protect the consumer from the evil small farmer & homesteaders, because all that great food you were eating is just too good! So, the FDA said you now need to be certified to be organic, a long expensive process with over burdensome regulations. Now you have to use chemicals to be organic, you have to medicate your animals and so on. The thing that happens every time government gets involved, lower the standards to meet the grade not raise them and of course collect fees and taxes to pay for all the unnecessary regulation.

Radish & Strawberry for dinner!

1 week old meat birds in brooder

Our Philosophy is transparency, come on out see how our animals are raised, outside eating grass the way nature intended animals to be grown, come see our gardens and soon our aquaponics systems and see that they don’t have chemicals added to them, see how we are regenerating the soils in our pastures and so on. Everyone who has visited our farm has become a customer and most importantly a friend! You can taste the difference.

Farm Tour

I would suggest wherever you live start buying your food local from local farmers and homesteaders, visit them, ask the hard questions, look and see for yourself what you are eating. The consumer has all the power, it just takes a little time to do the research and become educated about what you are putting in your body, once people take notice and demand good food, the farmers will follow and produce good wholesome food!We want our customers to certify us Organic not the government, a sticker on a bag of vegetables means absolutely nothing to me but a little time spent with the farmer that raises your food will mean everything in the end!

Pasture raised Pork on the rotissorie

In an effort to be more transparent we will be blogging a transparency series on each of our operations, keep an eye out for them in the future....

Sunset here at Serenity Valley Farms

We that's all for today, thanks for visiting with us.

Will see y’all next time!

Bob & Colleen Browning

Serenity Valley Farms

Monticello, KY

Check us out on the following platforms:

Follow us on STEEMIT: https://steemit.com/@svfarms

And Facebook: www.facebook.com/Serenity-Valley-Farms-167719676966401/

And on Instagram: www.instagram.com/serenityvalleyfarmers/

Check out our Website: www.serenityvalleyfarms.us