For best friends Michael, Curtis, and Nicole, farming wasn’t always an obvious career path. But through co-operation and a common love for growing food, they found a way to build a farm that reflects their values.  

Their three-member worker co-operative, Besties Cooperative Farm, is a success story which proves the effectiveness of the co-operative model in helping passionate people to access industries, such as agriculture, that otherwise have high barriers to entry. 

Working Together to Create Dream Jobs

The three met through an apprenticeship program with Young Agrarians, an organization that provides ecologically grounded educational resources to new farmers. Michael and Nicole continued to work in urban farming spaces afterwards, but found that doing things alone was too difficult. Their solution? Come together and form a co-operative. 

“I kind of got sick of the urban farm, just because it was logistically such a hassle. It was really challenging to coordinate, and it just really wasn’t working for me anymore,” said Michael. “I was like, ‘I don’t really want to do this alone, I want to have people that are with me, that are as involved and as committed as I am, not just employees. And so, I reached out to a handful of people, Curtis and Nicole, and a couple others … and then they were interested and on board.” 

“I never saw myself farming growing up as a young person,” said Curtis. “I saw conventional farm models, which looked like traditional families and people who owned land, people that had equipment, and I never saw myself in that picture. Being exposed to co-operative models and what that could look like for me, really opened the door to become a farmer, and actually do something that I do love.” 

A New, Personalized Approach in an Old Industry

This small-but-mighty farm is located on rented land on a residential property in De Winton, Alberta, just minutes south of Calgary. Here, they grow a wide range of vegetables, herbs, flowers, and fruits using regenerative agriculture. Among other agroecological practices, they do not till their soil or use any pesticides or herbicides. 

For the Besties, maintaining strong relationships with the land and the Calgary community is inherently linked, and a priority for their co-operative.  

“I think you owe it to your community and the people around you to be ecologically responsible,” Curtis said. 

 “A co-operative model … really embeds community values amongst economic values in the way that the business works, and that was really important to us,” said Nicole. “Feeding people is so relational, and growing plants is so relational with the land that you’re on, and so[it was important that] our business also had those elements of connecting all of these different pieces. Similarly to agroecological growing, working with those elements rather than against them [is important].”  

The Power of Collaboration

For Michael, Curtis, and Nicole, sharing decision-making power with a co-operative was an obvious fit. It reflects their values, their friendship, and allows them to share risk, capital, knowledge, and networks.  

“Cost is a big barrier for farming, especially new farmers, cost and knowledge,” Michael said. “The skill share part, if you have like a couple people in the group that have more knowledge around farming or have done farming, whereas some other people maybe don’t, really helps if you’re a co-operative… we [also always] have someone to reach out to, because we just have a bigger network of people with more of us involved.” 

“I think the co-ownership model incentivizes people to show up in ways that they might not show up if they weren’t part owners, so really, we just all are incentivized to show up in ways that we can and use our strengths to make sure that everything is done and completed that we need,” said Curtis. 

A Focus on Sustainability

Despite only having one year of operations under their belt and dealing with a short 14-week growing season in Calgary, the Besties have been wildly successful. They are a constant presence at the Bridgeland Farmer’s market near downtown Calgary, have forged partnerships with a variety of local producers, and have sold out their weekly subscription box program.  

So, what are their plans going forward? To continue doing what they’re doing. 

“We’re pretty content with where we are, we don’t have plans to be a giant farm. We’re just happy with get to where we want,” said Michael. 

“Our plans for the future are to continue to improve on the farming practices that we are currently doing, so growing vegetables better, more with the same amount of space,” said Curtis. “We also want to continue to advocate for small farms, young people in agriculture, co-operative models, and regenerative agriculture —  those are all four things that we want to continue to model and be an advocate for and represent, so people can understand that that’s the way you can do things.” 

“We built the jobs we wanted to see”

Farming is an incredibly rewarding career for young people — you’re out in the sun, surrounded by greenery, and doing important work — but the barrier to entry is high. As the Besties have found, though, while the work is still tough, challenges such as land access and finding capital can be reduced by becoming a co-operative.  

“We built the jobs that we wanted to see, and we wanted to do, and we’ve made the business work for each of us in different ways,” Nicole said. “We each work different amounts of hours, we each have different roles that we contribute to the co-op, but ultimately those roles are working together, and so we can kind of do whatever we want in that. I never actually thought that I would work on farms … but working with Curtis and Michael and growing food has been really, really rewarding. I just feel very connected to people around me and to the land that I am living on, and that feels pretty unique and really special.” 

Thank you to Michael, Curtis, and Nicole for showing us around the farm, and for sharing a delicious home-cooked meal with us! You truly made us feel like we were your besties. For a video of their story, click here.