Celebrate your love of local food

Farm Queen Foods will be Closing in February 2024

Thank you for your support over the last 16 years, it has been my absolute pleasure to be your farmer.

As a first-generation farmer, learning to farm organically, with no experience has proven to be a life changing endeavor.  I am not the same Cindy that struck out to play in the dirt and pet cows and chickens in 2007.

When I started farming, my plan then, was the change how Local Food is raised and sold.  I set some goals and began farming with the focus of keeping it local, humane and responsible.  It was important to me that the proceeds from the farm would be used to support fellow Organic and Regenerative farmers and stay within my local economy.  I could see then, the danger in allowing the very richest of the world having another minion working to flow money into their pockets.   

I understood then, and even more so now, that each dollar I spend is a decision.  Am I ok with buying conventional GMO foods and knowing I am funding pesticide use, fast dirty food production, livestock conditions that I do not agree with?  Do I want to invest in propping up a farm system in Canada that focuses on monoculture to the detriment of the soil, air, water, animals and society?  No, I was not ok with that then, and I am still not ok with it now.

I struck out to farm in a way that I could feel good about.  And in my own small way, I feel like we have actually changed the world, just a little bit.  Because, I can only farm, if you eat!   

Together, we have contributed to improving the world in so many ways.  Here is just a small list of what I think we have accomplished;

As a caring livestock farmer, each animal that is raised for meat, is raised respectfully.  To be cared for and nurtured in a way that their needs are respected and the life they live prior to processing, be a life they enjoy.  This is a direct contradiction to the existing conventional farming practices.  We went against the grain, and I got to witness the joy and feel the peace in farming my way.  Thank you for that.   

Since 2007, we have injected well over 4 million dollars in to the local economy, which means jobs, and supporting small local business in Grey County, and their families.  Keeping the money flowing locally means I did not spend ad dollars with Facebook, or Google, or Instagram, because that money then filters up to about the 6 richest people in the world and they don’t need more money, but my neighbors do!    

To quantify our impact in the world, approximately 537,000 acres have been farmed without the use of Pesticides for 16 years.  That is amazing!

NOT using pesticides in my Organic farming career has saved approximately over 1.5 MILLION pounds of Pesticide.  How many lives did we save?  Together, we have kept that much pesticide out of the system, off the land, out of the air, out of the water ways, out of people’s bodies.  How have we affected the world, by this one choice?

How many bees and wild pollinators were saved by not using 1.5 million pounds of pesticides, or little brown trout who were protected in the creek on my farm, or the wildlife allowed to live happily in the fence line forests that we didn’t take out on our farms, even though the government would give us a rebate if we did?  Diversification means strength in farming, in the world, and in life in general, not weakness.  That’s the focus of an organic and regenerative farmer.  

I do not know how to qualify how many pounds of carbon we have sequestered on over 500, 000 acres of pasture and hay lands in the last 16 years? 

Or, how many pounds of organic nutrients have been returned to the food system by applying the composted manure to grow nutrient dense foods. 

Farming in Canada and the US, at its core, is bought and paid for by Big Ag, by GMO Seed Companies, by Pesticide Companies (who also own big Pharma), its criminal in my opinion.  Much in this world is right now.  

Farm University and College Programs are sponsored by Bayer, who own Round-up, one of the biggest cancer-causing chemicals in the world.  So, it’s their agenda and interests (sell more GMO and Pesticide) that predominate the Colleges and University curriculum.   No GMO crop has been developed to have higher nutritional value.  They are all developed to live in spite of being sprayed with Round-up which kills every growing thing that is not GMO’d, with more side effects than we know.  That’s insane.  Food is nutrition, it is life.   

Further, the great Canadian farming business model of Monoculture, which supports the commodity market, believes that all livestock should only be grown in barns, with no access to sunlight, fresh air and fresh grass.  Could you live that way? Do you live that way?

I farmed outside of this embarrassing farm system and just grew local, nutrient dense food.   I have not accessed farm grants, or programs, or funding and tax breaks. (full disclosure, my FBR# automatically saves Residential Property Tax on the land space I use for farming).   I have never asked for donations, or crowd funding, or charity, or monetary gifts, I have never received any inheritance or gifts of money to operate the farm business or in my private life, this business has been run and survived the old-fashioned way, with hard work.  I grew the business by reinvesting into it the proceeds from the sales generated.  And it was hard!

BUT How many people have we inspired to become Organic Farmers? Or change to Organic Farming? Or to grow food to support the local food market, instead of a global food market.  I can tell you; we were one of the first to sell meat on-line in Canada, and in an All-Meat CSA.  Now I cannot count the number of like-minded farmers who do the same in my Township, County, Ontario, the rest of Canada, the US And the world!  This same farm style system is happening everywhere.  Partnership farm groups, growing and selling groups, in local markets are everywhere.  We started at the beginning of a movement that is changing the world. 

How do we measure the health benefits of how farming this way, has impacted the world?  With one choice, by seeing the corruption in the system and choosing NOT to sell our soul to it.  To NOT just blindly follow the ass in front of us and do what everyone else is doing, or by doing what we are told.

To think, feel and know what the right things is to do, and then choosing each day to do it.  Even when it was the very hardest thing we could do.  I failed many times in my farming career.  I landed in a pile of shit more times than I’d like to recount, but I always knew where the shit came from, and what was in it.  To be authentic, and do what I believed was best for the livestock I raised and processed, and for the people I was feeding, was good for my spirit, and, I hope the world.

How do I qualify how many loving friendships I have made with some of the most incredible people who walked into my farm store?  

It’s overwhelming for me to think of all the good we have contributed to the world by working together.  For all this and so much more, I am grateful beyond what I feel I deserve sometimes. 

Thank you, to anyone who supported the business over the years by buying the meats and things we have sold.  The folks watching and cheering us on all along the way and the farmers who started farming organically because we were successful enough at it. To the local food businesses who started up to also serve the local market and to others who added local products to their mix.   I sure hope I inspired some of you to just jump in with both feet!

To sail across the ocean, you don’t just get on a boat and head out to sea.  Without knowing where you are going to land, you will never arrive there or anywhere, you’ll just float until you drown.  Too many folks are adrift in the middle of the ocean, because they did not decide where they want to end up. 

Today, and until we run out of stock, I am going to spend my time closing up the farm store, and looking forward to a new beginning.  The Farm is for sale, and we will be looking to move out west once it sells.  

Place your orders by email, or stop into the farm store to stock up, or to say goodbye.

Orders are filled on a first come first serve basis. Here is a list of what we have in stock; 

Ground Beef

Beef Burger Patties

Beef Sausage – Salt & Pepper

Beef Sausage – Garlic     

Beef Wieners

Montreal Smoked Meat

Beef Brisket – very big, about 8lbs each

Beef Soup Bones

Pastured and Organic Chicken Soup Bones

Turkey Sausage – Garlic

Turkey Sausage – Maple Cranberry

Turkey Bacon

Smoked Turkey Drumsticks

Pastured Turkey – 1 have 2 whole, about 19lbs each

Pork Sausage – Maple Cranberry

Pork Sausage – Honey Garlic

Pork Picnic Roast

Pork Butt Roast

Smoked Pork Chops

Plain Pork Chops

Raw Chicken Dog Food – deeply discounted – $1.50/lb for orders 30lbs or more  

Raw Turkey Dog Food

In the Farm Store we have some dried goods, Gluten Free Baking, spices, herbs, salt and some local crafts.  Everything must go!

Thank you for your support over the years! It’s been a good run.  I love what we did, changed the world for the better; even if it was just a little bit. 

My kindest regards,

Cindy Boyd

Signup to Farm Queen Foods newsletter