It’s more than a location – it’s a state of mind – an idea – and a place of discovery.
Mapleton Organics is more than a quick glance from County Road 7 could ever reveal. It’s a family owned and operated farm – but with extras.
While organic food seems to be on the cutting edge – it is pretty old hat for Mapleton Organics. In 1980 Ineke Booy and Martin de Groot emigrated from Holland with their two children, Elske and Arwa (who now work at the farm) and they began working a 250-acre dairy farm.
After farming conventionally for 10 years, and having two more children, Egbert and Norman, the family took the plunge into organic farming.
Martin said, “For the first 10 years, we farmed conventionally, just like anybody else. Then, in 1990, we made the switch to organic farming. In 1999, we built the ice cream plant, and started to make ice cream and frozen yogurt.”
In 2005, they added a store.
“We found a lot of people wanted to come out and buy directly from the farmer,” Martin said. That led to an even larger store to sell their products on site. Since then, the operation has expanded to simple organic lunches.
“We raise pork, chicken, turkey, and beef. We bring in other organic products as well.”
Over the years, he saw numerous changes in consumer habits.
“In the beginning, people always asked us about chemicals and the environmental things. When it started to change, we got a lot more questions about animal welfare issues. It’s something that’s extremely high on the agenda of the consumers – how animals are treated. People started asking if they could see the animals and whether they could take tours.
“In the beginning, we took people into the barn – but that was always a bit hazardous on a commercial farm.”
Around that time, Martin’s daughter, Arwa, returned home and wanted to take part in the operation. So about three years ago, they built a small demonstration barn.
Martin said, “It’s not a petting zoo; it’s a demo barn where we show people, and especially schools, how their food is produced.”
A wide variety of livestock is raised on site.
“We have pigs there for meat, chickens for eggs, turkeys for the meat, alpacas for the fibres, some sheep, and some rabbits because they’re cute.”
The family’s intent is to educate people about farming, about food production, and to make the connection to health.
“Arwa took a lot of that work upon herself,” he said. “She does a lot of the school tours. Over the years we’ve had thousands of kids coming through here, especially in the fall.”
Martin said there is also a pumpkin patch in the fall – “so we can talk to them about the food, the animals, we take them out the CSA [Community Supported Agriculture] garden and dig up some carrots.
“They are totally amazed that after taking the dirty carrots out of the garden, washing them up … and they taste so good. It helps them make the connection.
“At the end they can pick their own pumpkin and go home happy.”
Originally, the property was a traditional dairy farm.
“It still is a dairy farm. That is part of the core business. But we have more land than we need to feed all the animals.”
He noted that all the feed for the animals is from the farm.
“The only things we bring in are salt and minerals; the rest is grown here organically.”
There is room for land where crops are grown organically for human consumption.
He laughed genuinely when asked directly why the family made the switch to organic farming.
“It’s a famous question … the short answer is … because my wife told me so,” he laughed.
For her, “It was a gut feeling that all the chemicals we were using were not very healthy.”
But, he said, “As a man, I had to find a way to rationalize the move.” He explained there are four main reasons why the family farms organically.
One is personal health.
“It’s a pleasure. We don’t have to use all those chemicals any more. When I plant my crops, I can eat the seeds or I can stick it in the ground. It’s all organic seed.”
Then there is the environmental issue, Martin said.
“It’s hard to find anyone anymore who does not believe that there are not major problems with our environment. Farmers are just like the rest of society – and are part of the problem.”
He added, “In North America farming is not as efficient as people try to make you believe.”
To him part of the issue is not how many people are being fed by what is produced, but rather the energy used to make that happen.
“We are putting more energy into agriculture than what is coming out.”
Between three to 10 calories of energy are used to produce crops for every calorie of food produced.
Martin said that approach has worked for the past 50 or 60 years because the cost of energy has been dirt cheap, and all the external costs such as pollution were not added in, nor was the issue of depleting resources.
“Once those prices start to go up, this food system which we have created will be in big trouble.”
He said there are additional costs with transportation, processing, and overrefining the food.
“The sad part is that only half of the food produced over the world is consumed – the rest is waste. In North America, it is wasted because it is thrown out or over processed. In developing countries, it is a matter of storage – and can spoil.”
As to the question can organic farming can feed the world, Martin said, “Hunger is not a production problem; it is a political and economic problem.”
Plus in North America, “The way we eat is not very sustainable either. We overconsume meat, which takes an incredible amount of grain – especially for beef; chickens are somewhat better. On top of that, 40% of the corn crop in North America is used in ethanol production, which is totally ridiculous – to use food for energy production.”
He said if one looks at the energy balance, “We’re putting more energy into growing the corn – such as natural gas to make artificial nitrogen for the fertilizer, to put it in the fields. We grow corn, and 40% of that nitrogen is lost either by being washed away or evaporates.”
Then the corn is harvested, dried out using natural gas, put through a complicated process to create ethanol – put in a big tank, transported to a gas station and put in cars – and [we] think that is sustainable, he said.
“It literally takes food out of the mouths of people because it pushes the grain prices up – and if you already spend 75% of your income on food which a lot of people across the world do – it has a huge impact.”
Another issue, he said, is power and control.
“Farmers say they are independent and make the decisions – I don’t think so.”
He contends the industry tells farmers what to do. He cited large multi-national companies that “tell farmers what to grow and how to grow it.”
He said thousands of farmers take the risk of growing those crops and that 75% of the sale of grains worldwide is controlled by three companies.
Farther down the line, Martin said the majority of supermarkets are controlled by large companies.
“In the organic industry, we try to shorten the distance between the farmer and the consumer, with on-farm stores like ours, farmers markets.”
His recommendations to consumers would be to eat foods in season, with less processing.
The last and more personal reason Martin likes organic farming is, “For us, it is great to have the direct contact. We really feel privileged that people come here to eat the ice cream and thank us for making such a great product.”
He said one of the biggest changes from traditional to organic farming is that instead of being commodity producers, “all of a sudden, we became food producers. It also gave us a big responsibility. As farmers we are at least partly responsible for the health of the population.”
He noted the amount Ontario now spends on health care. “If people ate better, it might not solve all the problems, but I think we could cut that amount in half.”
He said many of the diseases that seem prevalent, are directly connected to the environment and to what people eat.
Arwa explained she came back to the family farm about four years ago – after a number of years in Toronto working in the film industry. “I was not finding too much meaning in that.”
At the same time, she was excited about the things her parents were doing on the farm.
“I came back here, and we developed quite a number of things, such as the barn constructed to allow the public to come out and learn about farm issues and the ecological aspects as well.”
The school tours offer the opportunity to show off a wide variety of animals “which gives us the opportunity to show off various aspects of farm life.”
She cited the example of the alpacas – which give kids a chance to understand where fibres and wool come from.
As people take the tours, “I get quite a number of varied reactions. One of the biggest surprises when I started doing the school tours was the lack of knowledge even rural kids had about farm issues.”
For her, it illustrated the disconnect between farming and food “even in a small rural setting like where we are right now. The need for education was clearly demonstrated at that point,” she said.
“The other aspect is “that we try to keep this a fun experience when people come out.”
She said this year marks the third season for Fridays on the Farm, which run from 4pm to 8pm.
“We open the farm up to the public, offering wagon rides, a barbecue, musicians, and make it a fun comfortable atmosphere – so people can learn and have fun at the same time.”
This year, Fridays on the Farm start July 1 and run to Labour Day.
Ice Cream
One of the reasons many people stop in during the summer is the chance for a unique ice cream cone.
As a result, Martin said part of the business within the store is scooping ice cream.
While there is a traditional line of flavours, organic of course, Mapleton Organic also creates specialty flavours, some of which might be considered unusual – such as dandelion.
“It’s made with the roasted dandelion roots. It almost tastes like coffee. In the fall, we make pumpkin ice cream. We grow the pumpkins here.”
And true to Canada, springtime results in maple sugar ice cream.
Martin noted another interesting flavour is a chai ice cream – with tea grown by organic farmers in Sri Lanka.
They have a co-op and grow all the spices and green tea. They mix it together so it is organic – and fair trade.
It results in farmers from far away working with farmers in Canada, to create a great new product.
Even in Mapleton Organic’s regular line of ice cream, ginger is popular. Although people might not envision ginger and ice cream as a natural combination, it sells well.
There are other attractions for younger folks as well. A cedar hedge maze leads to a pirate ship. Originally it was a corn maze, said Martin, but since it had to be replaced each year, a permanent hedge was planted instead.
That was done four years ago. “Now it’s really growing so it’s more and more fun all the time.”
The reason for the choice of the pirate ship stemmed from it being for sale locally – “and the kids really like it.”
The farm also is the site of a CSA [Community Supported Agriculture] operation.
Martin said, “The problem today is that farmers are a dying breed. The average Ontario farmer is 58 and they have a very hard time to get young people into agriculture.”
However, he added, “There are lots of young people, especially from the city, that have an educational background, but they have a passion for food.”
They also make the connection between the environment, health, food and local food systems.
Martin explained that about four years ago, he told members of the CSA group that if someone wanted to start such a farm in Mapleton, he would be willing to help them with a few acres of land to get them started.
One of the first involved in that program was Caitlin Hall.
Martin estimated that the first year there were 25 families involved; the next year 45; and the third year, 65 families.
Hall took the produce to two farmers’ markets, one in Elora, the other in Waterloo. She was so successful, she was able to start her own farm near Harriston.
As a result, the Mapleton Organic land became available again and someone has taken up the challenge – doing it with horses.
“It’s not only good for him, but its an attraction for people visiting here. People love to see the horses working.”
