Good Food Easy

Good Food Easy

We are a family owned small farm that began in 1979. We grow our food with natural (what used to be called organic) processes. The farm, 20 acres, sits at the head of a small valley near the end of Camas Swale, 7 miles west of Creswell. This location is isolated from the pesticide drift, insect pressures, and potentially polluted water of the floor of the Willamette Valley. We farm on 3.5 deer fenced acres for field crops and 20,500 sq.ft. of greenhouse space for more tender crops and season extension. We take pride in the fact that, unlike most small farms, we wash and prep produce in state and federally inspected and licensed processing rooms. People who work here get paid above minimum wage and are covered by workers' compensation.

At Sweetwater, we have used organic farming procedures since beginning, in 1979. For the long term safety and well-being of family/workers, consumers, and land, it is the only responsible choice. We have grandkids and want the land to be healthy for them.

You need to know where your food is coming from, because no amount of federal standards for organic labeling is going to rein in the greedy big agribusiness guys who started messing around with organic standards for labeling as soon as they were passed. We believe you had better know your farmer, that's the only real guarantee you have that what you are eating is responsibly and naturally grown.

Farmer John comes from a farming family. His grandfather

owned and operated a chicken farm in Connecticut. In the early 1970's, John started the Urban Farm associated with the University of Oregon. One of the first students of the Urban Farm now farms on Molokai, Kumu Farm, and we occasionally buy tropical fruit from him.

Lynn became interested in organic farming as a result of working with local farmers in the early '80's to set up an organic marketing coop for their produce. A few years later, she became interested in Farmer John and that cinched it. She has lived and worked at Sweetwater since 1990.

Erica, Robert, Donna, Jonah and Vanessa complete the team. Erica is a problem-solver extraordinaire and has been with Sweetwater 13+ years. She is on the board of Willamette Farm & Food Coalition. Robert lives just down the road from the farm and can do just about any thing. Donna lives near the farm and is a nutritional therapist. Jonah has been farming for a few years now and wants to eventually have his own farm. Vanessa, the most recent addition to our team, is fast learning all kinds of hard work. Mr. Big'ums, on the far right of the photo, is in charge of security.