At Seward Co-op, we often talk about helping build the food systems we want, and making the choices to work with producers that align with our Ends Statement whenever possible. While we work towards our Ends and our desired food system, we also must acknowledge the demands of larger food systems that exist today, such as the way we’ve grown accustomed to expect a large variety of produce year-round. So how do we navigate getting fresh tomatoes and kale in Minnesota winter? With the help of Rose Hogan, one of Seward Co-op’s produce buyers, we recently connected with an exciting producer that helps meet the needs of today’s market while also aligning with our values of sustainability, social justice, and environmental health: Lady Moon Farms.

Named after something founder Tom Beddard’s daughter used to say when pointing to a daytime moon–“There’s the lady moon”—Lady Moon Farms operates out of three states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Florida. Though not a small-scale operation, Lady Moon Farms is committed to sustainability. This includes minding the health of their soil and air, using renewable energy sources, providing fair wages and benefits to their workers, crop rotation, and much more. As they put it, “Organic farming is more than just growing vegetables without pesticides. It is about letting nature lead, building healthy soils, biological diversity, and social justice.”

Lady Moon Farms is proud to be certified not just USDA Organic, but also Real Organic, a status with more stringent requirements. As Lady Moon Farms explains, Real Organic champions the spirit of the organic movement, and exceeds the most basic conditions of the USDA Organic label. Real Organic is all about, as produce buyer Rose explains, “actively building a relationship with [the] soil.”  Ultimately, Real Organic aims to preserve the most cherished values of the original organic movement.

Rose was surprised at first to find a large-scale farming operation that was certified Real Organic. Real Organic was initially built for and pioneered by small-scale farms, but for Lady Moon Farms, working at a larger scale had no bearing on their passion for sustainability and the spirit of organic food—they’d do what it took to be certified Real Organic. Rose came to learn that the quality from Lady Moon Farms was high, consistent, and she especially loved seeing Real Organic produce in the middle of winter.

Next time you’re in Seward Co-op, check for Lady Moon Farms kale, collard greens, cherry and grape tomatoes. Rose hopes to carry even more of their produce in the future. “Everyone in the Produce Department initially fell in love [with the logo],” Rose said. But after doing some digging about Lady Moon Farms, Rose couldn’t help but fall for their practices, values, and standards, too.