Maritime grain network helping farmers, mills and bakeries across the province produce more organic baked goods.
By Michelle MacLeod <michelle.anne.macleod@dal.ca>
Posted: Feb. 22, 2008
The Maritime Organic Grain network was established to help grain farmers grow organic grain. Photo credit: FreeFoto.com
When mixing and kneading balls of their famous sourdough bread, bakers at Heartwood Bakery Café add only organic unprocessed grains and locally milled organic whole grain flours.
“Our focus is on healthy food,” said Rob Shedden at Heartwood, a vegetarian café on Quinpool Road in Halifax. “It’s all about what foods are most beneficial for the body.”
Heartwood is one of the few bakeries in Halifax offering completely organic and locally grown bread. But demand for the loaves of organically grown grains is rising.
A study completed by the Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network (ACORN) in 2003 found the Maritime sale of organic products brings in $65 million a year. The study also found sales of organic food are growing by almost 20 per cent each year.
In 2003, only 10 per cent of organics purchased in Atlantic Canada were produced here. The other 90 per cent were imported from other parts of Canada or the United States.
In order to help bakers and buyers find more locally farmed organic grains, the network started the Maritime Organic Grain Network last summer, designed to help farmers share growing information and learn how to transition from conventional to organic farming.
Executive director of ACORN, Beth McMahon, said the group knew there was organic grain being grown in the province but wasn’t sure how much.
McMahon said the network is researching the grains are in the region and sharing farming techniques with new organic farmers.
“There is really a large demand for organic grain right now, which is more recent,” said McMahon.
Speerville Flour Mill in New Brunswick tries to use locally grown organic grain in all of its products, but in past years not enough farmers have grown enough grain to do so.
More farms in Nova Scotia are growing wheat without the use of pesticides. Photo credit: FreeFoto.com
A member of the management team at Speerville, Richard Wetmore, said for the last few years, the mill has been able to use all locally grown grain.
“This year we got our wheat, spelt, oat, kamut, barley and amaranth all right here,” he said. “In the last few years we’ve had enough local farmers growing organics.”
Wetmore said business at the mill has grown 15 to 20 per cent in the last couple of years as more farmers make the transition from conventional to organic. Heartwood is one of many bakeries that receives flour from the mill.
“There is a lot more demand now for organic flour,” he said. “The sales are increasing year after year and more people are hearing things about the benefits of eating organically on TV or on the radio, and so they call us to ask us more questions about it.”
Wetmore said he believes organic food is healthier food. He stopped using pesticides on his own farm many years ago after reading about connections between chemicals in the food chain and cancers.
Numerous studies have been released showing higher yields and higher nutritional content in organic soil, he said. The high cost of pesticides and fertilizers are also having an impact.
Claire Hanlon-Smith of Nova Scotia’s department of agriculture said organic grains is an area of agriculture that has shown tremendous growth.
“We do have organic production here in the province,” she said, “but we also have a great capacity to grow that to meet consumer demand.”
Jennah Turpin, an employee at Heartwood Cafe serves a customer a loaf of their organic sourdough. Photo credit: Michelle MacLeod
In response to the demand for more organically grown goods, the province created a provincial organic council last month.
The council was established by the Organic Federation of Canada and will certify farms with a Canadian organic standard, helping consumers understand how their organic goods are being grown.
Angela Patterson, a certified organic farmer in Kings County, is the newly appointed chairperson, and will be launching the new council in the near future.
She said the council will provide the growing number of certified organic farmers with a unified voice.
“When I think of myself selling as a producer at the Wolfville and Halifax farmer’s markets, the customer base has been growing exponentially since we began in 2002, and the number of certified organic vendors at the markets has increased as well, meaning the customers are asking for certified organic products,” she said.
Jess Bolla, 25, is a frequent shopper at Halifax’s Planet Organic grocery store on Quinpool Road. The grocery store sells organic bread baked from bakeries in the area such as Heartwood Bakery Cafe or Gingerbread Haus on Queen Street.
Bolla said she likes buying certified organic products because she she knows it's “a cleaner food.”
“I don’t like the idea of eating pesticides,” she said.
Shedden said he sees a lot of familiar faces within the health food market at Heartwood Café and at the Halifax Farmer’s Market, but there have also been many new faces.
“I think a lot of that has to do with education. I think a lot of people are also having a lot of digestive issues and so people will come knocking on our door and have a lot of questions for us,” he said.
“Organics are pretty popular these days and I think it’s only going to continue to become more popular as more people learn more about it.”