Brand Name Food

Note: This post is intended mostly for my CSA members, but I'm so proud that I'm sharing it on our general blog rather than in a newsletter.

Logos and brands are EVERYwhere.  So why not at Barnyard Organics?

Our original logo was hand drawn on a scrap of paper here at the farm by my good friend Lanna Campbell.  Thankfully another good friend, John Mills, was able to take that hand drawing (including font!) and turn it into a digital thing (and also built us a website!).  We love it and try to slap it all over as much 'stuff' as we can.  We're not exactly why, but it feels important to build our 'brand' here on PEI and since we get quite a bit of media attention now and then we thought we should have something on hand to capitalize on the free PR. haha.

So you will have noticed on the last CSA chickens and most of our egg cartons have shiny, snazzy fancy new labels on them.

This blog post is to share with you what all the logos are for.

So firstly, and by far the biggest, is our farm logo.  We want you to associate that logo with tasty, locally produced, healthy and quality food.  :)

The next logo is the Atlantic Canada Organic logo.  This is our certifying body.  That means they are the ones we send our organic application to and then they in turn review it, organize to have a third party inspector come to the farm every year and then review their report and determine our certification status.  There are several certifying agencies to choose from, but ACO is the only one based specifically in Atlantic Canada and we've been with them from the start.  They're a small company and have their struggles, but we like to keep it as regional as possible so they get a spot of pride on our label.

Next, in the centre is the Canada Organic logo.  I think it's pretty and it's what you should come to look for on organic anything in the grocery stores.  It's the national brand for Canadian organic products, or products that meet the Canadian Organic Standards.  There has recently been a media campaign to help with the launch of the logo, called "Think Organic".  I am very proud to be able to slap that puppy on our stuff.

Finally there is the PEI Flavours logo.  In the name of transparency, to access available funding for farmers to do marketing stuff (like labels) we were required to use it, BUT I do actually think it's a pretty appealing logo and I'm happy to be associated with a (thus far) pretty reputable logo.  It doesn't really mean anything, although I suppose it is supposed to prove that our product is from PEI, which it is, so I guess it's working.  ?  haha.  Anyway, it's got pretty colours and looks good on there, so there it is.

And the trailer!!!  Aren't we just like the big dogs now!  This is the view as we're loading up, ready to head out, so the side door is open (and my helpers are helping load/pose silly for a picture).

So now with all our fancy propaganda we'll soon cover the Island like the dew. ha!  

In other news:

Here is Nancy chowing down in her pasture, overlooking the chicken shelters in the background.  Nancy is due to farrow out just after Thanksgiving and since we recently sold all but two of Gail's piglets, we're excited to have some new babies around.  Here's hoping for a farrowing as smooth as Gail's was.

Here are the kids on a Tall Ship.  They LOVED it.

And I've been lucky enough to squeeze my way onto an awesome veggie CSA list for the past couple years and cannot imagine my summer without Jen Campbell's hard work filling my fridge and covering my table.  I just wanted to share this veggie tray made entirely from Jen's produce and gloat encourage you to find a veggie CSA next summer, if you aren't already a member of one.  It can feel like a lot of food sometimes, but it stays so fresh for so long that a week is actually a pretty perfect amount of time.  And knowing where my veggies come from means a lot to me (surprise, coming from the local CSA chicken farmer.) Jen's CSA is generally full with a waiting list, but there are getting to be more and more CSA's everywhere and as a farmer and member I would love to see everyone sourcing directly from the farmer and supporting our local economies, rather than California or Mexico. 

So sorry this pic is sideways (too tired to figure out how to turn it at this point), but it's a shot of Lucy stripping a chicken foot.  We get weekly orders for chicken feet and that's one of her jobs.  She takes it very seriously and is meticulous. I wanted to show her focus here, but I think the sideways throws it off a bit.  :)

Thanks so much for a great great season!  Only a couple pick ups left!

-Sally