Spelt
Osprey Organics, located two hours from Toronto, is a family-owned, 3,500-acre certified organic operation. Owned by Jamie and Sandy Gott, the heart of their story is the protection of natural springs on their land. These pristine springs not only sustain Osprey Organics’ diverse crops but also create a healthy, chemical-free ecosystem that supports both the farm and their wider enterprise, Ice River Sustainable Solutions.
The Smith & Gott family (2025)
Under Ice River Sustainable Solutions, they operate Ice River Green Bottle Co., the first beverage company in North America to collect blue box materials to produce 100% recyclable plastic bottles using no new plastic. There is also the Blue Mountain Plastics Recycling facility, which purchases plastic bales from municipal recycling programs, sorts them, and converts them into food-grade plastic pellets used to manufacture new food containers.
Osprey Organic Farms
On their beautiful, organic farm fields, they cultivate a diverse range of clean ingredients, including oats, barley, hay, straw, maple syrup, and spelt. This is a family that, from hearing all their achievements, has a great respect for the land.
The Gott family believes that working with nature naturally yields goodness from the land. Our visit highlighted their impressive regenerative practices, with Jamie Gott passionately showing us how their greenhouse and water facility help rehabilitate soil, sequester carbon, and boost nutrition and yields.
The Gott family’s new greenhouse which is under construction
Osprey Organics practices low-till and multi-species cover crops as a way of leaving the carbon in the soil. This is just one way that Osprey Organics is working with nature to reduce their footprint and innovate smarter practices to grow healthier crops each season which is the story of most of our organic farmers. These organic practices not only ensure healthy soil for the next crop, but for years to come.
Eric Mayne, the organic farmer and farm manager of Osprey Organics, explained how the Gott family’s journey of organic farming began. He explained that Sandy’s family owned a fish farm in Feversham, Ontario. It started out as a fish farm and soon became a water bottling company. To protect the water, the family decided to farm organically around the well. Growing clean food contributes to the family’s ability to provide clean water, without the use of chemicals or pesticides, relying solely on nature.
Eric Mayne and Stan speaking about harvesting spelt on Osprey Organics Farm
Walking through the farm and seeing firsthand how much work the Gott family has put into everything was certainly an inspiration for our family and for our team. Our values align in being committed to looking after the environment, and their belief that “we believe if you take care of the land, it will take care of you!” resonates with One Degree’s mission of providing only clean food grown the right way.
We were also able to receive a tour through the recycling plant from Crystal Gott (Sandy and Jamie’s daughter), who is the VP of sustainability at Ice River Springs. She expressed her son’s interest in farming; they often call her from the farm fields, giving her updates on their whereabouts. Most of the time, when they are not in school, her kids are working in the fields, the place she says they love the most.
The Gott family opened a newly built Uptopia Market
She expressed her delight in knowing that the hard work her parents put into the business and now her will all pay off for future generations, including her sons, who she believes will continue the great work in building a more sustainable future.
Stan, Alonna, Eric, and Kathy standing on the farm that will soon be harvesting the spelt grains found in our sprouted flour
We source our organic spelt from Osprey Farms and are honoured to have had the opportunity to meet their family, explore their farm, and their operations. It was such an educational experience, and we hope that their story resonates with you as much as it did with our family.
