The Good Soil Standard
Two tiers
The badge on a listing answers one question: has this grower given their word, or has someone actually been out to see it? Both are worth buying from. Most growers stay Pledged, and that tier stands on its own.
Self-attested
The grower has publicly committed to the Good Soil Standard and stated their specific practices on their listing — in their own name, for their neighbors to read. That openness is the verification. Nobody from Good Soil has been to the farm yet, and most growers live happily here.
Confirmed on the farm
Everything a Pledged grower promises, and someone has been to the farm to confirm it rather than take their word for it. Usually that is someone from Good Soil standing in the field — a credible outside certification gets there the same way, through its own on-farm inspection, and counts for exactly that reason.
*If a grower already holds a credible certification — ROC, AGW (A Greener World), Real Organic Project or Demeter Biodynamic — a reputable third party has already inspected their farm, which is the same thing a Good Soil visit does. That earns Verified, and the certification appears as plain text on their listing. It never replaces the Good Soil tier or puts another certifier's logo on our map.
The Good Soil Standard, in plain English
Every Good Soil grower commits to all six, whatever they produce. Beneath them sits more detail for plants, animals and prepared food — each grower is held to whichever of those they actually do.
They grew it, raised it, or made it themselves. Nobody here buys someone else's product and resells it as their own.
No synthetic pesticides, herbicides (including glyphosate), or synthetic fertilizers on the crops, pasture, or animals behind the food they sell you. Natural and biological methods instead.
They work with living soil — keeping it covered, feeding it compost or organic matter, disturbing it as little as they reasonably can.
Any animals live on pasture or range appropriate to their species, with room to move, fresh air, and low-stress handling throughout their lives.
Anything made or prepared is built from real ingredients — no industrial seed oils, no high-fructose corn syrup, no synthetic colors, flavors, or preservatives.
Every claim on their label, sign, or listing is one they can stand behind — and they'd happily answer your questions, or have you come see how they grow.
The full standard is published in plain language — the per-category practices for growing plants, raising animals and making food, and the things we deliberately don't require. We don't hide the details, and you don't have to take our word for any of it.
The standard is only worth something if you can find the people keeping it. Every producer on the map has made these six commitments in public, under their own name.
Find good food near you →Grow, raise or make food yourself? Getting listed is free, always — commit publicly to the standard and you go on the map as Good Soil Pledged. Pledge and get listed →
