NOOA
North Okanagan Organic Association

Certification Body Information

The North Okanagan Organic Association (NOOA) was formed in 1989 by a group of market gardeners and small-scale fruit and grain growers. The goals were to establish a certification procedure, to provide education for organic farmers, and to provide information about organic food to consumers.
Today NOOA provides certification services to an average of 40 operations annually. The commodity groups certified include market gardens, orchards, feed crops, cattle and chicken operations. Total acres in the certification program amount to some 3000 acres

Certification Services

NOOA’s certification services are available year round with a typical operation applying in the spring followed by up to two inspection periods through the summer months. A volunteer certification committee carefully reviews all applications and inspection reports and decides on the certification status of the operation. A paid coordinator assists in managing the paperwork for the committee and provides continuity to the process. A new applicant can expect to receive their certificate by the end of the first season following both inspections. Renewal applicants are generally issued certificates following the first committee meeting in April. All certificates are valid until mid-April of the following year.

Certification Costs

Our fee structure has remained one of the lowest at $395.00 per year. This fee includes the cost of inspection, application review by the Certification Committee, and administration costs associated with certification. The fee is prorated for applications coming in through the season. With this structure, an applicant can enter into the certification process at any time in the season. These applicants would enter the typical certification cycle in the following spring. Some additional costs may apply if an inspection is needed outside of the regular schedule. Every consideration is given for cost savings. Additionally, the COABC fees are payable upon application. Included with this fee is a subscription to the BC Organic Grower magazine published quarterly. These sliding scale fees are outlined on the following page:

Extra Services

Mentoring

NOOA also provides a volunteer mentoring service for new operations to help with the transition to Organic management practices. This program strives to match the new operation with a successful organic operation in a similar commodity group. The intent is to provide free exchange of information on marketing, best management practices and innovative developments within the organic sector.

Educational

On the educational front, NOOA hosts two forums a year. One in the Spring in conjunction with our annual general meeting and one in the late fall. The seminars are directed at pressing grower issues and offer an open discussion forum to have questions addressed directly. NOOA welcomes problems and concerns brought forward by the membership to have addressed at these forums.

Summer Farm Visits

NOOA encourages members to open their farm to the association during the summer months when we hold our annual summer farm visits. These are great networking opportunities and a chance for our members to brag up their operations. NOOA has also participated in community events around the region such as the Interior Provincial Exhibition and the Salmon Arm Fall Fair. Booth setup, information packages and consumer education media can be collected by the NOOA office and provided to any farmer wishing to promote organics.

Newsletter

NOOA publishes a quarterly newsletter that lets members keep abreast of changes happening locally and provincially as well as upcoming events. Any member wishing to get information out to others is welcome to put notice in the newsletter. All comments, questions and ideas are cheerfully handled by Cara Nunn in our office. Please feel free to call at any time.

Summary

NOOA provides its members with quality service and affordable, professional certification. NOOA goes the extra mile for its members by providing extra services such as mentoring, farm visits and seminar sessions. Call us to find out more about our clear, straightforward certification procedure.

Membership Listing, Found 83 entries

Transitional Assessed to the BC Organic Standards and in transition to full organic status. For more information click here.
Pending Application for assessment to the BC Organic Standards submitted - certification review decision pending. For more information click here.