At Orchard Valley Farms, we utilize sustainably grown practices to raise healthier food

What is “sustainably grown”? It means environmental stewardship of the land and water, and caring for our people. We control erosion, use technology to minimize salts from entering the water supply, and by maintaining soil health, we reduce the amount of carbon returning to the atmosphere. We provide reliable working and living conditions, along with a safe and pleasant atmosphere for our farm workers.

We use an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach that gives us many tools

• Use insect mating disruption.
• Monitor pest populations by observation and traps.
• Use pest resistant root stalks.
• Learn to tolerate small amounts of pest damage.
• Use organic chemicals when appropriate as well as soft chemicals.
• Raise a cover crop between rows to discourage insects from attacking the vines, trees and fruit.
• Understand the life cycle of pests to know the best time to use control measures when the insect is most susceptible.

These control methods can be very effective and cost efficient and present little or no risk to people or the environment. Using sustainable agricultural practices throughout our family farm is better for you and your family, our workers, and for the earth.

Another measure of healthy: Orchard Valley Farms is food safety certified (GAP)

What does that mean? The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) operates an audit/certification program to verify that farms use Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). To become GAP-certified a farm must pass a rigorous GAP audit.

Why is this important? The increasing incidence of food borne illness in fresh produce in the U.S. has resulted in a demand for food safety assurance by minimizing the risks of microbial hazards. Adopting Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) enables Orchard Valley Farms to verify our production and handling practices are in accordance with recommended safety guidelines.