Adagio Acres is a small organic farm in the Interlake region of Manitoba. We grow organic naked oats, and also mill small batches of organic crops from other farmers around the province.
Our fields are interspersed with forest, bluffs, and wetlands, providing abundant diversity and habitat for a wide variety of insects, birds, and wildlife. We believe that the food we eat should be an integrated part of the rich landscapes that we live in and love, just as the food itself should be something that builds strength for individuals, families, and the communities that we are part of. There’s no denying that humans have a significant impact on the world. Every resource we consume comes with some kind of trade-off that can’t be ignored. Every shovelful of dirt that grows a few stalks of grain for us to eat could instead be growing a tree to shelter and feed squirrels and raccoons. Not ignoring this trade-off, we run our farm in a way that maximizes our positive impact in every way possible.
Similarly, our goal in grain milling is to scale back processing to the human-scale, where food processing is once again matched to the size of the communities that surround us, and responds to the needs of the farmers who grow our food. Modern conventional agriculture grows gigantic quantities of food, which is then shipped long distances to enormous scale processors and then shipped long distances again to brokers, brands, packagers, and retailers. This system is efficient and cost effective, but it turns both crops and people into commodities and numbers on a paper. We want to change people’s relationship with the food they eat by re-introducing them to the farmers that grow their crops and the land that supports us all.
We named our farm “Adagio” (the musical term for “a slow tempo”) based on our belief that we need to slow down and re-evalute our food systems and our relationships to the land we steward. We can’t take for granted that we should run headlong to the newest and greatest. There is value in the things that have been developed painstakingly over thousands of years. Food grown in our own communities, minimal processing that is transparent and close to home, and nutritious meals created with the best possible ingredients and shared with the people we care about.
Thanks for joining us in our crazy farm adventure!
Take a look-see at the little recipe booklet we made! It’s just our simplest and favourite-est recipes for using the most common Manitoba grown grains and pulses that we include in our Winter Grain Bundles!