Food Transparency

The lack of transparency in food and agriculture has allowed people to run corporations that adulterate our food, degrade our environment, mistreat animals, and profit from increasingly sick soils, sick food crops, sick animals, and sick people.

It’s been said that if factory farms were built with glass walls so that the public could see in, this would change our food system overnight.

In the last few years many corporate food brands began using the word “transparency” as if it were some kind of marketing buzzword? When compared to small-scale localized food coming from sustainable regenerative sources, we know their definition of transparency really isn’t transparency at all. The transparency they’re talking about involves hiding behind the word play of ingredient listings and nutrition facts. It includes denial of consumer – and of course, news press – access to farms and processing plants in the name of bio-security (i.e. “protecting” our food supply), that is more about sheltering questionable production and processing practices than a bio-security threat.

At Freedom Acres we hold ourselves accountable to 7 tenants of unyielding transparency:

1. We value truth above profit.
   This means we remain truthful about how we represent our farming practices to our customers.
2. We exercise an open door policy.
   While corporations pass “ag-gag” laws, we invite you to come, see, take pictures and tell the world about our farm.
3. We value relationships above labels.
   This means we do not hide behind fancy packaging or paper thin label certifications.
4. We put soil health first. Period.
   We do this even if there are no marketplace accolades to be gained.
5. We share openly with others.
   We share our practices, models, and innovations with aspiring regenerative farmers. No trade secrets. No patents. We strive to see others succeed.
6. Transparency extends to price.
   We price our products based on our cost rather than the maximum “perceived value”
7. We do not waiver from conviction.
   We remain true to our mission even when it’s costly or inconvenient. 

That said, I’m the first to admit that while we’re far from perfect, but we have come a long way toward true sustainability. And that feels good. Plus, it’s a great feeling to know that our side is building soil, cleansing the atmosphere, and promoting the basis of human and animal health. Some days it feels like an uphill climb—a futile battle—but at least we have a sustaining vision to work towards and are not merely the puppets of conventional agri-business, academia, and the Big Pharma. And at the start of a new year, transparency and continuity continues to be our goal. And that’s the View from the Country.