​When you visit or support Riverview Farms, you will experience first-hand the following five core values (in bold) that define our business and essentially our way of life.

• Our commitment to the environment to do what is best.  I am not sure who wrote this quote, but it was written in an e-mail from a cattle group we belong to and I thought it was quite fitting for our beliefs.  “My grandfather broke the ground, my father used it all up, and we are here to rebuild it.”  While our scenario is not exactly this, it is quite similar, in that our operation is complete opposite of our predecessors.  That is a powerful statement that we follow.  We have chosen to rebuild the land and to leave it better than how we got it. 

 

• We believe in integrity.  We will always be honest with our practices and proud of the choices we make and products we produce.  We make a conscious choice to hold ourselves up to high standards and our farming techniques reflect our values and principles, which differ from conventional farming.  Our actions and decisions are purposeful and our main goal is healing and rebuilding the land. 
  • There are multiple ways we are accomplishing this.  We are using animals instead of fuel.  The pigs plow the fields, the chickens and cows provide some of the very best fertilizer on our fields possible.  Our flock serves as fly control and our constant pasture rotation serves as internal parasite control. 
  • Our goal is to manage our property for our goals, not manage our problems with inputs and chemicals.   We refuse to use plastic in our fields for weed control.  We do not believe a farm can be sustainable if it is lined with fields full of plastic each year, which will then be torn up, and sit forever in a landfill.  We use paper compost and cover crops for weed control.  Weeds cannot grow when there are beneficial cover crops blanketing the ground.  Those cover crops also funnel excellent nutrients back into the soil that the vegetables we plant may take from the ground. 
    
  • Through all of those techniques we stand proudly behind our belief of not spraying anything on our crops or grounds.  Whether regulated by the FDA or organic, chemical sprays and pesticides have NO place in our bodies.  I do not know any crop growers around here that can say the same.  Please ask your farmer about their pesticide/insecticide/herbicide beliefs. 
    

 

• Our commitment to our animals through our commitment to the environment means that our animals will never be exposed to fertilized or sprayed fields.  If it is not safe for us, it is certainly not safe for them.  Spring is almost upon us and all we can think about is getting outside and enjoying the fresh air and feeling the warm sun on our faces.  We know that our animals feel the same way and guarantee they have access to the outdoors.  Our animals are not confined to barns to only walk around in muck.  We give our animals a life they enjoy living, in a natural way, working in harmony with Mother Nature.
  

 

• Through all of this, you can understand why we will always strive for excellence as you, our supporters, customers, and friends can be confident we will provide you with the healthiest of foods, in a way that heals the land and is safe for our animals and our health.  Our sausages, bacons, and hams are cured without the use of unnecessary preservative (nitrates, nitrites, MSG…etc.) that most commercial, conventional, and even some organic producers use.  We want to inspire our customers and community to make the choices that promote optimum health with the food we eat while restoring the land, as you all inspire us to continuously grow and reflect on our practices, and strive to be better each year. 
  

 

• We are a non-conforming farm -herd quitters (thanks Kit Pharo)-.  We refuse to give into the hype and the nay-sayers.  With every decision we make, with each seed we plant, each animal birth we are blessed to witness, we believe in challenging the conventional ways of farming.  We have challenged the ideals of many and have been told we cannot succeed with our plans.  Many of our plans have been a success in breaking away for the norm.  Some have failed, but we modify and move on.  We have seen the positive benefits of working with nature, not pharmaceuticals and commercial ag suppliers, and we will continue to succeed in our future ventures.