My journey with CBD has been a personal one. I’ve been exploring high-quality CBD products so thoroughly it has become a passion of mine to not only understand the products I’m consuming, but the brands behind them as well.
There are so many options on the market that I decided to choose my products based on my personal needs and values. My fondness for East Fork Cultivars started a few years back in Oregon when I first started looking into CBD. Their water-soluble drops are amongst the first CBD products I ever tried, and what first attracted me to this kind of product the fact they’re all-natural, a product that’s straight from the farm, with no added sugar. Even without any sugar, they taste absolutely amazing. In fact, I love the standalone taste so much that I take it straight.
Many brands out there use the typical buzz-terms associated with CBD, such as “sustainable”, “organic” and “environmental and social responsibility”, but only a select few actually live up to it. And nothing validates that effort and dedication than receiving one of the most sought-after achievements you can get in the industry today: being Sun+Earth Certified.
The Sun+Earth Certificate (a nonprofit regenerative organic certification program for the cannabis industry) certify cannabis that is grown under the sun, in the soil of mother earth, and without chemicals by fairly-paid farmers. While most certificates attest to the product’s quality, being Sun & Earth Certified is very different and difficult to attain simply because it is not just about the product. It’s about the people that build the business, their rights, and fair pay. It’s about being mindful of the environment and natural resources. It’s about paying it forward.
Farms that receive this certification show that their crop is grown under the sun in carefully tended living soils and cultivated with techniques that uphold strict regenerative organic farming practices. These farms also treat their employees and community with the utmost humanity, ensuring the cannabis production benefits family farmers and workers through price premiums, a guaranteed living wage, and collective bargaining. Just earlier this month, Sun+Earth Certified has approved its first five businesses in Oregon, and you guessed it, East Fork Cultivars was one of them!
Most of their 34 acres cannabis farm is perfectly integrated into the native oak savannah of South Oregon. You can see deer, jackrabbits, birds and even bears wandering in their natural habitat. They even support the bee’s habitat by planting pollinator-friendly flowers. Their commitment to being environmentally responsible is so strong that their farmers use bikes to collect and transfer the hemp plants for trimming, instead of the typical tractor. This allows the plants that are ready to be harvested to be processed, while giving the plants that still need more time to grow the opportunity. Generally, wholesalers use tractors to accelerate the harvesting process. Younger plants with low CBD resin that need more time to mature get harvested with the ready-to-harvest plants, decreasing the overall product quality in the end.
East Fork Cultivars identify themselves as being educators and community builders besides making cannabis and hemp-derived products. I feel that in this age of uncertainty revolving around CBD products, it is easy for producers to take advantage of the consumer’s lack of knowledge and information. I like to think that growing a business while being eco-friendly, people empowering and community-focused, is the best way to get rid of the stigma surrounding the CBD and cannabis industry in general.
I was so happy to hear that one of the brands that helped cement CBD consumption as a part of my wellness routine was rewarded such an honor. Building a successful business in the CBD industry by growing and cultivating hemp to the highest standards isn’t easy, and doing it at the highest possible standard is even more difficult. East Fork Cultivars go the extra mile in being environmentally friendly and giving back to the community, and this certification can attest to that. All in all, East Fork Cultivars is a brand that represents everything I think a CBD-focused operation should be.
Learn more about the Sun+Earth Certificate here. Also be sure to learn more about East Fork Cultivars here.