It is no secret that agricultural workers are abused and exploited. This applies to the entire world, but that it happens so blatantly in wealthy countries like the United States is particularly shameful. From the beginning, this has been one of the major attractions to me about Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC).

There are three pillars to be scaled to achieve Regenerative Organic Gold certification. At Troon Vineyard, as we were already certified CCOF Organic and Demeter Biodynamic®, we were well along on the Agricultural and Animal Welfare pillars. Still, the Social Welfare pillar was a concept we felt we were attuned to, but being certified was new territory.

It was new territory for us and unique for the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI), the certifying body for our Social Welfare pillar. As so many farm workers are mistreated by “big ag” operations, they have necessarily been focusing their work there. Small farms, like Troon, are governed not only by Federal laws and OSHA but by a state government that at least attempts to protect worker rights. So we operate under the stricter Oregon OSHA and agricultural minimum wage requirements. Basically, by law, we are required to do most of the things included in the EFI. To accommodate our unique, small-farm situation, EFI created a new certification called ERGO. Troon Vineyard was the alpha tester for this new certification and became the first small farm in the world to achieve it. Being first aligns with our goal to help create a ROC certification system that other small farms aspire to achieve.

An essential and enlightening aspect of this certification process was the creation of a committee of workers from throughout the farm, even our small one, to improve communications between teams. It is important to understand that no matter how much you think you are trying to hear every team member, there is always room for improvement and issues you are unaware of. This process alone made us think about we relate to each other.

Troon Vineyard assistant winemaker Hannah Thorning, our guest on the episode, led our team through this process. When we achieved our EFI ERGO certification, we joined three other farms worldwide to become Regenerative Organic Gold Certified®. I know you will enjoy our discussion of the process and achievement.