Cullen's Foods
Cullen's Foods offers canned beans and legumes that are traceable right back to the farm they were grown at! Ben is captivated by where things come from, and finds nothing more satisfying than tracing a finished food item right back to the exact place where it was grown.Cullen's Foods is local first, organic second. By virtue of organic management, all of the beans are free from synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. One of the major differences between the beans that Cullen's Foods produces and conventional growing practices is that it is common for conventional producers to spray the crops directly with a drying agent prior to harvest. Cullen's Foods uses organic practices, and the growers leave the crop on the field until it's life cycle is complete, or the crop is finished by the frost.
Edible bean harvests always end up with 'cull' product - that is, beans that don't make the grade for sale due to splits, too dry, etc. One way that Cullen's Foods supports growers is by helping them market those culls for secondary purposes, such as milling into chickpea flour, or roasting into animal feed, which helps make growing this speciality crop both lower risk and more profitable.
Cullen's Foods other commitment is donating 1% of gross sales to SHARE Agriculture Foundation, a volunteer-run non-profit started by Canadian farmers for farmers in South and Central America. SHARE invests in climate change adaptation strategies for small holding farmers in the global south such as irrigation projects, as well as livestock improvements and education programs.
Ben is proud of Cullen's Foods connection with people who appreciate their unique emphasis on local and organic foods. They believe in total transparency: you can enter the lot code on the back of your package to learn more about the specific can of beans that you are putting in your pantry, including who grew it, when it was harvested, and where it was packed. Cullen's beans are processed with no additives whatsoever - no colourants, no firming agents, no preservatives, no salt. Just Canadian-grown, organic beans (or pulses!) and water.
