Ted Zettel

President, Organic Meadow Inc.

          In June of 1989 I got a letter in the mail from the owner of OntarBio Inc., a fledgling grain elevator located in Durham, Ontario, inviting me to an evening meeting at his farmhouse to discuss the future of the business.  I was one of about 30 growers of certified organic grains who had been supplying the elevator with spelt, rye, oats, corn and other crops.  The business was in financial trouble, creditors were hovering, and those of us who had become dependent on the facility to handle our crops were kicking around the idea of forming a co-operative.  I was 31 years old at the time, with a young family of 5 children, a small farm, a big mortgage, and didn’t need any more organizational involvements.  Had I known that the birthing and nurturing of what is now Organic Meadow, begun that fateful evening, was to consume a good portion of my life, I would have done the prudent thing and stayed home.

          Like many great movements, Organic Meadow was born out of urgent need, powerful vision and persistent determination.  The urgent need was to have a means of getting our crops to the market.  The entire organic food business was only in its infancy at the time, with no reliable infrastructure.  While regular farmers had many marketing options, the pioneers of organics were very much on their own, unnoticed by the business world and shunned by the powerful academia-government alliance that was insistent on moving agriculture toward industrialization.  The radical vision of the founders was of a separate model, a totally new food system that would deliver highest quality, certified organic, local food to a willing, well informed citizenry, who were more than happy to support the stewards of the land.  We were a unique mixture of new converts from chemical farming and “dyed in the wool” environmentalists with one belief in common; the thing was not working and we would rebuild it, from the ground up.

"Organic Meadow Co-operative Inc. was formed to provide an opportunity for organic farmers in Ontario to collectively store, process and market organically grown products.  We are committed to ensure fair, consistent financial returns to farmers while maintaining quality at every stage from soil to table."

(From the mission statement)

          Over the next 4 months we hashed out the structure of a new co-op.  Each member was required to invest $2,000.00 that supplied us with working capital.  We leased the facility from the former company’s creditor, hired a mill manager, a part time secretary, and OntarBio Organic Farmers’ Co-operative Inc. was in business, managed by a volunteer Board of Directors and a slew of committees.  I was the first President, elected at the first Annual General Meeting, held in the Glenelg township office building, in Grey County in October, 1989. One of the contentious issues I remember was whether to keep the name “OntarBio” or come up with a new one.  The decision to keep it hinged on the fact that we would inherit a stack of glossy promotional folders that would be unusable if we changed the name. “Waste not – want not.” Commenting on those early days, our long time auditor has said that “the meetings were more like religious gatherings than a business venture”.

"We are dedicated to encouraging ecologically sound, diverse, self-reliant farm units where production efficiency is achieved in harmony with the surrounding environment."

The deal for members was plain and simple – OntarBio would take in grains at harvest, store and market them, deduct the operational costs and pay the balance out to the growers. In addition to this service, members had the privilege of serving on the Board or committees, helping out as worker bees to maintain the facility and make improvements, and attend family picnics and parties or other social functions that were the lifeblood of the young organization.  We were desperately short of resources and business experience, overextended as volunteers and launching into a very competitive grain industry.  What held the co-op together through its formative period were not the financial returns to members, but the sense of belonging to something bigger than us, an endeavour fundamentally worthwhile and necessary.  We felt that through this co-op we were protecting the way of life we cherished.

"We will work to build unity among farmers based on the principles of co-operation, and will affirm their right to self determination and the maintenance of a strong rural heritage."

          The economic prospects of the co-op took a dramatic turn in 1995 when the pioneers of the organic dairy industry joined and launched one of the first organic dairy products in Canada: Country Meadow Cheese. A year later came Organic Meadow milk, but the label that now leads the market on a national scale was no instant success.  There were six farms in the original pool and as many more in transition, but after a year of flogging Organic Meadow milk through independent retailers, only about a third of the volume was being used as organic, meaning that farmers were only receiving one third of their premium.  The Board took a bold move and decided simultaneously to guarantee the premium on all milk and to hire a professional marketing manager.  The rest is, as they say, history.  Within a few months we had contracts with major retailers and were out recruiting more farmers to expand the pool.  That situation continues to this day. The Organic Meadow brand has progressed steadily, adding eggs in 1998 and building on the offering of dairy toward a complete line of fluid, cultured products and ice cream. Being the “first in” brand has allowed Organic Meadow to become a national entity, selling in stores from St. John’s, NL to Vancouver, B.C.

"Organic Meadow Co-op will strive to decrease the distance both physically and psychologically between farmers and customers."

          Organic Meadow Co-operative now represents over 100 family farms that produce milk, eggs, grains and oilseeds.  The co-op is actively working with producers across Canada to see that this vital element of the initial Mission statement, “decreasing the distance…”, is fulfilled.  Our goal is to unite as many farmers as possible under the one brand, letting them share in the benefits of a national marketing effort, without starting from scratch as we did in 1989. Soon the Organic Meadow label will apply to products made from milk from local farmers for local consumers in various regions across Canada. We are working to encourage the family farm to continue, against the tide, assuring them that by banding together and holding fast to our values we can not only survive but flourish.  We work with family or co-operatively-owned independent processors who are also hard pressed to stay alive in an era of rampant consolidation. We are achieving the dream that was born out of necessity around a farm kitchen table nearly 20 years ago.