The Good Seed Grain Merchants

            The Good Seed sprouted in 2006 out of Good Seed farmer Blake Hunter's idea regarding the reinvention of the family farm in Saskatchewan, coinciding with the opening of a new agricultural market. After travelling in Costa Rica for three months where Blake lived with organic farmers who were growing, roasting, packaging, and exporting their own coffee, he was inspired by their farming practices. Not only were these farmers involved in fair trade—they were practicing direct trade. These farmers were ensuring that they and their families were being treated correctly, and also treating the land well by using farming methods, such as shade-grown polycultures, that were actually healthy for the land and that made it more fertile.

            When Blake returned from Costa Rica, the family was discussing selling the farm which had been rented out to grow canola and wheat for ten years. Blake was studying at university in Nanaimo, BC, prior to these discussions and had done a lot of research on hemp during those years since Canada had recently legalized hemp and it was a new topic and new industry.

            “When the family farm came up at a family conversation about whether to sell the farm or try something new, I suggested hemp.  We could grow it on our farm, start the transition to Certified Organic, and market the grain in Western Canada, as I planned on living my winters on Vancouver Island,” Blake told H&C. His parents and brother agreed and they created a hemp farm.

            There are many aspects of farming hemp that attract Blake to his profession. He loves growing food and notes fair trade as the way to ensure people can continue to farm. He is attracted to hemp specifically because of the solutions that it can offer as part of a healthy, organic farming industry. “I believe there is a major protein shortage on the horizon and humanity can no longer rely on meat and soybeans as the major protein supply.” Blake also notes the decline of oceans, the unsustainable manner of factory farming and destructive farming methods that most soy farms use as all the more reasons for farmers to choose to grow hemp.

            The Good Seed believes going green is essential to their daily work and life because they are striving to change our culture’s habits of overconsumption. Overconsumption is unsustainable and when something is unsustainable it will inevitably stop or collapse. “We believe that going green is necessary for the survival of our species.”

            Eco-friendly materials that help the Good Seed’s mission to be green include organic hemp and their use of bike deliveries, as well as producing at least 35 per cent of their own fuel. The Good Seed uses reclaimed vegetable oil from their farm to make biodiesel fuel.

            The Good Seed is purely Canadian—the farm is in Saskatchewan and its goods are processed in Manitoba, just over the Saskatchewan border.

            We asked Blake from the Good Seed about the company’s future—where he sees it going, where he wants it to go. He believes that as more people are educated about hemp, the more the demand for hemp products and foods will grow and he wants his company to be there, responding to the demand, educating the public, and ensuring that hemp farmers continue to be treated fairly by participating in fair trade practices. The Good Seed wants organic and fair trade to continue to grow as partners—never one without the other.

            Much of the Good Seed’s future is happening right now. The family farm is becoming a demonstration farm for “permaculture, organic farming, hemp production and agricultural tourism.” This year they began running workshops and will continue to run workshops educating the public about sustainability, hemp, and permaculture. During these workshops, the Good Seed will begin small-scale processing of hemp fibre to showcase its many uses, rather than just food products which are the Good Seed’s main focus.

“We believe that humanity needs hemp, so we want to involve ourselves in helping that industry grow.”

For more information, visit the Good Seed’s website at goodseedhemp.com.