OUR HISTORY

Farmer Direct Cooperative was founded in 2002 by farmers who continually faced unfair pricing, poor logistics, and a lack of transparency when marketing their grain. They collaborated to build a cooperative that would allow them to sell their crops, which included flaxseed, lentils, hempseed and peas, in a fair and direct way.

The Canadian prairies have a strong cooperative history, particularly for farmers. For example, Farmer Direct Cooperative’s board president, Kevin Bristow, grew up watching his father run member services for a large conventional farmer co-op. To this deep history of cooperatives, Farmer Direct brings a unique commitment to three attributes:

• 100% Farmer Owned
• 100% Organic Business
• 100% Domestic Fair Trade Certified

No other business of its kind boasts all three.

Farmer-Owned

Organizing as a cooperative, farmer-owned business was a bit of a no-brainer for the farmers. The strong culture of cooperatives in the area laid the groundwork, so when the farmers decided to come together, they knew they wanted each member to have one vote regardless of the farm's size ("one farm, one vote"), open and voluntary membership, and a way to participate fairly in an economic endeavor. What other way than through a cooperative? Their board president summed up why he joined the co-op in this way: “I believe in cooperatives, I believe in fairness, I believe in transparency. Collectively we have more strength, more advantage, more opportunity.”

Certified Organic

All 60+ family farms that are member-owners of Farmer Direct Cooperative are fully organic. Most of them have been organic for a decade or more. None of FDC’s members are “split operations,” or farms that grow both conventional and organic products. The strong commitment to only selling organic products is one of the big draws that brings farmers into the cooperative.