Producer

Located on 16 quiet acres in East Haddam, Connecticut, Four Root Farm is a small and diverse Certified Organic vegetable and cut flower farm. We are committed to growing nutritious, delicious, and highly unusual produce. The farm is owned equally by its four farmers: partners and best friends who share a common vision for a business model that sustains our community, our land, our selves, our soil, and our food system.

Having begun our journey on this land in 2015, we are now cultivating approximately five acres of vegetables, cut flowers, and berries. The farm is sheltered by deep forest in all directions, and has been a farm in some form for at least the last three generations. As far as we know, blueberries and honey were the main outputs in the farm's previous iteration. Though the land was largely dormant when we bought it, it is home to a productive group of blueberry bushes (which are significantly older then any of us) and a few aging apple trees in an orchard that we're in the process of rehabilitating.

e believe in a model of small-scale agriculture that emphasizes personal relationships between farmer and consumer and minimizes reliance on chemical and mechanical shortcuts. We believe that this type of farming is the most complete way to promote our own health as farmers, the health of our customers, the health of our community, the health of the soil, and health of the planet. We strive for a world with more numerous small farms in place of the ever-increasingly consolidated farms of agri-business, and as such we believe in sharing knowledge, skills, and resources with the other farmers in our community and in deemphasizing competitive economics.

We are Certified Organic by Baystate Organic Certifiers, which means that all of our produce is grown without the use of synthetic pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. We work to enhance and maintain the health of the soil through practices such as crop rotation, cover cropping and composting. We do not use any chemicals or additives after harvest and we strive to maintain the highest possible standard of freshness and quality in everything we sell.

While we believe strongly in the requirements of the National Organic Program and in the level of accountability that is imposed by the oversight of our certifiers, there are philosophical elements of our business practices that go beyond what is contained in the NOP. As a result, we have also signed the CT NOFA Farmer's Pledge, which speaks to some of these practices. The Pledge includes commitments to "Support agricultural markets and infrastructure that enable small farms to thrive," "Reduce the ecological footprint of farms and homes," "Sell produce locally and regionally," and to "Work in cooperation with other farmers and with the neighboring community." To read a full copy of the CT NOFA Farmer’s Pledge, please click here.

Similarly, we are also certified by the Real Organic Project. This is an add-on label to USDA certified organic intended to provide more transparency on organic farming practices. The primary goal of the Real Organic Project is to lobby on behalf of organic farmers who are growing fully in the soil without hydroponics and raising animals without confinement.