The Case Against Commodity Grain

Going Against the Grain Supply Chain

Unlike commodity grain, Farmer Mai owns the grain throughout its lifecycle until it reaches your hands. This gives you transparency and accountability for all the steps along the way. Off-farm, grain goes to California cleaners and millers in order to build a regional grain economy, and then to values-aligned retailers in our state.

COMMODITY GRAIN PROCESS

  1. Field

  2. Cleaners

  3. Silo

  4. Auction House

  5. Processor

  6. Warehouse for unknown number of years

  7. Broker

  8. Roller Mill

  9. Packer

  10. Distributor

  11. Retail

  12. You!

AGROECOLOGICAL GRAIN PROCESS

  1. Field

  2. Cleaners

  3. Stone-milled within a few weeks of sale

  4. You!

Breaking with Convention-al Farming

Breaking with convention allows us to grow food in ways that replenish the soil, water, and air while holistically supporting those who work and eat from the land. The people who work the land and eat the food are part of a cost-benefit calculation, and the land is forced into submission through tillage and toxic chemicals. The results have been widening social inequality and environmental destruction. Farmer Mai employs local, skilled farmers during the harvest season, and compensation is based on more than a minimum wage but the area’s living wage.

COMMODITY FARMING PROCESS

  1. Proprietary seed

  2. Petrochemical fertilizers

  3. Tillage and ripping

  4. Short stalks that are tilled under

  5. Irrigated

  6. Dried using glyphosate or “Round Up” outside of California

  7. Synthetic Pesticides and Herbicides

  8. Questionable labor practices to produce goods for profit in a commodity market

AGROECOLOGICAL FARMING PROCESS

  1. Heirloom, non-patented seed

  2. On-site nutrient cycling

  3. Low tillage

  4. Carbon sequestration and healthy land management

  5. Dry farmed

  6. Naturally dried

  7. Natural pest and weed management

  8. Healthy Local economy

We’re Doing Things Differently

Rehumanizing farming requires us to grow food in ways that replenish the soil, water, and air while holistically supporting those who work and eat from the land. Humans and nature aren’t separate. We are all part of a system, and it is our responsibility to take care of each other and the earth.