Lindsay Eason
Whether you grow grapes or apples, produce wine or beer, preserve jam or jellies or offering farm tours and experiences, you are probably labeled as small-scale agribusiness. In BC, the majority of agricultural producers, suppliers and tourism operators fit into this category. And like most small businesses, you are busy running your company so you can produce the best product and provide the best experience to your customers.
So how can certification fit into your business? Certifications provide a standard framework in which your product, services or operations are assessed, (usually audited by a third-party). You may think your business does not “fit in the box” of certification… but before you disregard it, consider these 5 things to decide whether a certification program could be right for you.
Could A Certification Program Be Right For You?
- Do you want to ensure you are meeting an industry standard?
- Are you looking for guidance to improve the sustainability performance of your business?
- Are you looking for a marketing tool to attract new customers?
- Do you want physical proof (in the way of an eco-logo) to show your customers or stakeholders you are doing what you say you’re doing?
- Do you want to be recognized on a provincial, national or international level?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, read on to see if there is a certification program out there that could be right for your business.
Organic Certification
The term “organic” means all produce and livestock raised on your farm was never genetically modified or treated with chemical pesticides or fertilizers from seed to final product. But there is a lot of confusion over using the term “organic”. Currently you can use “organic” to describe your products if you are selling within BC without actually being certified. However, this is changing; the BC Ministry of Agriculture is standardizing the term and ensuring that everyone using “organic” has been certified and is meeting the same industry standards. But figuring out which certification to get can become a little confusing too. There are different certifications related to the size of your operation and the geographical region in which you sell your products. But in any case, setting an industry norm to reduce pesticides, fertilizers and genetically modified organisms is a great idea, and more consumers are buying organic foods as a healthier option to conventionally grown products. The best place to start exploring this option is though the Certified Organic Association of BC www.certifiedorganic.bc.ca.
Environmental Farm Plan
This program helps you properly assess all potential environmental risks of your farm and design a mitigation program specific to your property. Having such a plan can improve environmental performance, offer marketing opportunities as an environmental steward and help improve industry standards for environmental management. Learn more through AgriService BC http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/programs/growing-forward-2/environmental-farm-plan. And while you’re on their website, check out their rebates and other programs that could be relevant to your business.
BC Wine Institute – Sustainable Wine Growing British Columbia
This program (not a certification), created by many different experts in the wine industry, offers free tools and resources to help wineries get on the right sustainability track. Their online tools and resources help BC winery and vineyard operators practice environmental stewardship, improve job satisfaction and build a “meaningful legacy to future generations while being economically viable today”. The program can help boost efficiencies, reduce pollution, understand the latest technologies and connect with other like-minded businesses. Seven BC wineries have completed the self-assessments, including Blasted Church, Mission Hill, NK’Mip Cellars, St. Hubertus, Tinhorn Creek, Tantalus Vineyards and Quail’s Gate Estate Winery. To learn more about this program, visit sustainablewinegrowingbc.ca.
Green Tourism Certification
This international certification program allowing agri-tourism businesses to be compared with hotel, resorts and other attractions. With over 2,300 businesses certified around the world, Green Tourism is the largest and most credible sustainability certification program for tourism businesses. You will receive a third-party verified assessment every two years, which grades your business on many different areas, from energy, waste and water to purchasing, nature/culture, transportation, management and more. Once assessed, the business shows supporting evidence and may receive Bronze, Silver or Gold certification. This overall holistic approach to business management will help attract new customers, offer multiple marketing opportunities and provide a roadmap to improving the efficiency and sustainability of your businesses operations. There are 100 certified businesses in Canada. To find out if Green Tourism Certification is right for you, visit www.greentourismcanada.ca.
Salmon Safe
There are hundreds (if not thousands) of salmon-bearing streams, creeks and rivers that pass through agricultural land in this province. Salmon stocks are under severe stress for many different reasons, and this certification serves to eliminate agricultural practices as one of those reasons. The Pacific Salmon Foundation and Fraser Basin Council brought this successful Oregon/Washington program to BC, which has over 700 US certified farms and over 40 BC certified farms in the program. Salmon Safe defines and promotes sustainable agricultural land management practices to protect and enhance water quality and aquatic ecosystems. If you are a farm or winery and want to optimize your water use without compromising salmon habitat, conserve soil and practice sustainable pest management practices, this could be the right certification for you. Klippers Organics in the Similkameen was the first farm in BC to join the program. To learn more about becoming Salmon Safe Certified, visit http://www.salmonsafe.org/bc.
Continual improvement in business practices and management is the norm for most small agricultural businesses in BC. Making sustainability improvements not only contributes to efficiencies and cost savings, it can also help improve your bottom line and improve the health of the environment in which you operate. Although most of these programs have a cost associated with them, the cost far outweighs the benefits you will receive; just make sure you weigh all the pros and cons of each program to find the best one that suits your business.
Lindsay Eason is the cofounder of GreenStep Solutions and manager of Green Tourism Canada.