A new opportunity for the health-conscious investor is sprouting at Canada’s first equity crowd-funded organic farm.

Athena Organic Farm + Eco-Retreat in Cawston hopes to capitalize on the rapidly increasing market for local organic goods.

“Athena was born of the premise that it could create a successful, scalable revenue model with social and environmental impact,” writes Krystine McInnes, project developer at Athena. 

The farm is the company's first acquisition.

It has been operating for 11 years, establishing relationships with what Athena calls some of the biggest names in the green grocer industry.

“The current core is wholesale sales of root vegetables, such as carrots, beets, leeks, squash and onions,” writes McInnes.

She says demand is there, and green grocers are already asking them to increase production.

“Food is travelling an average of 1,500 miles to grocery store shelves, and that’s having an impact on carbon emissions, product quality and price,” says McInnes. “By connecting a series of regional models, or micro-farms, Athena will take the best elements of franchising by standardizing growing methods and creating quality control, taking organic farming to a larger scale without losing its grassroots nature. The food will never have far to go.”

The business model is also all about utilizing technology – from proprietary greenhouse technology to bar codes that will allow consumers to scan a product in the store and trace that product back to the field and the date it was picked.

Investors will be able to log in to a dashboard for an overview of the farm in real time.

The crowdfunding route may be unusual in farming, but McInnes says 40 per cent of the target has already been raised.

Initially, campaign funding will be used to complete the farm acquisition in Cawston. Athena states the property is secured and the deal is close to completion. A greenhouse facility in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver and the Okanagan will follow.

After that, Athena is looking to further expansion. Currently at 50 acres, the aim is to have another 150 acres in 2016, later moving to 350 and then 500 acres in the Okanagan and Fraser Valley.

For more information about the company, concept and investing check out its website here.