Table to Farm.

In our efforts to provide a complete offering of goods on the Marketplace, we recently welcomed Les Fermes Valens to the Lufa Farms family. Founded in 2005 by four farming families, Les Fermes Valens is a cooperative focused on sustainable organic livestock farming. They’re based in the small town of Huntingdon, Quebec, about 75 km southwest of Montreal, and their partner farms are scattered across the surrounding municipalities, Elgin and Godmanchester. Today, Valens is a role model for organic farmers eager to bring back respectful and sustainable practices for raising animals.

Markus Ritter, one of the four founding farmers of Valens, and Liz Chapman, who runs the administrative and business end of the cooperative, visited our offices last week to tour the greenhouse and meet us in person.

Knowing where our food comes from is very important. Knowing that at Valens the animals actually run in the sunlight and are fed from all organic and natural crops, even more so. Markus wanted to be able to communicate this directly to his customers, without going through large supermarket chains: “I was approached by a major grocery company, and they told me to lower my prices. I can’t do that because I would never sacrifice the way our animals are raised or the quality of our products,” Markus explained. When we spoke with him, he was excited about the value Lufavores place on knowing who makes their food and how it’s made.

Markus, originally a chef, is a bit of an anomaly in that he does not come from a farming family. Markus used to own a restaurant in Huntingdon, which was a gathering place for people in the town. Even though Markus didn’t know everyone in town personally, running the restaurant allowed him to keep his finger on the pulse. He always wanted to get into farming, but knowing how hard it would be to do it on his own, the only way to make his dreams come true was to unite with other farmers. So on New Year’s Eve, over drinks at his cozy bar, he briefly ran an idea for a cooperative past members of several farming families. The morning after, three of these farmers—Archie, Doug, David—sat down with Markus to discuss the cooperative in more detail and unanimously decided to forge ahead.

Archie and Sherree (fourth generation farmers) raise organic dairy and beef cattle, organic veal, laying hens for organic eggs, and natural pigs. Doug and Martine (who run a seventh generation family farm founded 191 years ago!) have long been committed to organic: they believe that they should farm right or not farm at all. David (in the picture below) and his family have been part of the Valens family since day one. They raise organic beef cattle, organic lamb, organic eggs and also produce maple syrup and organic flours, all on their family farm. Last but not least, Markus and Catherine (the newbies as first generation farmers) contribute to the Valens family by raising grass-fed organic beef, veal and laying hens for organic eggs, as well as poultry chickens and hens. Markus and his family believe in fostering natural diversity, so they make sure that their animals can graze freely and are raised in a low-stress environment. All of Valens’ animals are fed from certified-organic and spray-free crops. Valens products are also gluten-free, meaning no fillers — just meat and gluten-free spices.

During their visit, Markus and Liz were excited to answer our questions about what certified organic and sustainable farming means for them. They told us that it’s about being devoted to producing quality products and believing that what’s good for you should also be good for the environment. “I know a couple of guys, not in the cooperative, who raise animals that never see daylight. They look at my farm and tell me that they would love to be able to do what I do,” Markus explained, “It’s a choice though. They tell me they have bills to pay, but I do too. The question is would they switch to sustainable farming if they had a chance?”

Markus cares deeply about the animals he raises. Every morning he gets up early, and before working on the farm he calls all of his clients (the people who sell his meat) one-by-one to ask about their inventory levels. “I know my animals, raise them, feed them the best I can,” Markus told us, “My heart aches when I see meat lying in the corner of a butcher shop because no one bought it.” To avoid waste, Markus only sends to his customers what he believes they need.

Valens does all of their own processing, wrapping, smoking, egg grading and sausage making (Markus’ specialty, thanks in part to his Austrian heritage no doubt). By overseeing the process from A to Z, Liz, Markus and the other members of the cooperative ensure that their customers get the best. “I read about meat recalls and restaurants being closed due to product quality,” Liz mentioned, “When our customers see our products sealed, it offers them peace of mind knowing that our products are not only great tasting but are also safe at all times.”

Wishing Les Fermes Valens a very warm welcome to the Marketplace and sincere congratulations on the hard work they’ve put in to make sustainable, safe and responsible products available to locals.