About Us

ABOUT US

Our Values

Agricola is a worker’s cooperative, meaning it’s owned by the workers who grow your food. We believe that food should build community, be ecologically sustainable and be a pleasure to grow and eat. As a cooperative farm, we seek to create meaningful work by growing organic food that nourishes our local communities, specifically the Petite Nation and Ottawa.

We strive to engage generously and responsibly with the world around us in order to contribute to a more equitable, sustainable food system. Some of these efforts include:

– our Solidarity Share program, now in its 4th year, offering free or reduced-cost vegetable baskets to 50+ low-income families a week, through our partnerships with the MRC Papineau, the AgroLab Petite Nation program and the Somerset West Community Health Centre. To apply for the program or to find out more, click here.

– reducing food waste: we are proud to partner with the Alliance Alimentaire Papineau, a local food hub in Petite Nation, to ensure that all of our excess produce is distributed to people in our community. In 2023, we donated over 3000 lbs of produce for re-distribution and use in transformed goods!

– We grow organically, meaning we don’t use chemical pesticides or fertilizers. We look for biological solutions to pest and disease issues, and we strive to reduce our carbon footprint at every stage of our growing process. All of our vegetables are certified organic by EcoCert Canada.

– our commitment to ecological sustainability. Producing organic food while responsibly stewarding the land around us is our top priority, which is why we work with experts from ALUS, OBV-RPNS, NCC and the SADC in order to build practices that support biodiversity, track and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and maintain the health of our waterways.

Find out more about the history of the farm here.

Our farm's history

Agricola Cooperative Farm began as the shared vision of four friends; Natalie Childs, Heather Syposz, Caleb Langille, and Hannah Hunter. We met at university in Halifax in 2006 and quickly became close – all four of us were interested in meaningful work that supported our local communities, tread lightly on the earth, and allowed us to spend as much time as possible outside.

Although we had a vision for the project we wanted to build together, we needed more experience to make that vision a reality. The four founding members each spent many years working on and managing farms across Quebec and Canada, learning the technical skills of agriculture and the realities of farm life.

In 2019, after years of planning and dreaming, we started Agricola Cooperative Farm. In our first season, we rented land at the Plateforme Agricole de l’Ange Gardien, an opportunity that offered land access, infrastructure, and a wonderful community of fellow farmers.

At the end of 2019, with the help of Arterre, we completed the purchase of our 160-acre farm in Papineauville from Guy-Louis Poncelet – poet, artist, and owner of Ferme La Macédoine. Over the past 40 years, Guy-Louis and his family have stewarded this land and decorated the landscape with magical asparagus sculptures. They also welcomed thousands of visitors to the farm each year to pick up one of spring’s greatest delicacies – fresh asparagus. We’re lucky to have Guy-Louis’ mentorship and support as we build on his legacy.

Now entering our 6th year of production, in 2024, Agricola is growing as a business while keeping our founding values at heart. The team has expanded to include two new cooperative members, Océane Leclair and Christophe Arsenault, who share in the management of the farm and seasonal team members who harvest and prepare the asparagus every spring. We have been present at the Main Farmer’s Market and at our original CSA locations in Old Ottawa East and Little Italy/Chinatown since the beginning of the farm, but have welcomed more members each year.

In 2022 we were honoured to receive the Prix de la relève agricole du Québec, recognizing our team’s “sense of innovation, diverse skills and engagement in our community”, as well as our commitment to climate and environmental responsibility throughout the business. As we grow, Agricola continues to develop and build new partnerships, and we look forward to welcoming more people into our growing community.