The standard
Chivle Verified
Every farm on Chivle carries this mark, and it has to be earned. It means the farm is real and in the region we serve, has told us how it grows, had its licensed products checked before they listed, and stands behind every order. The mark doesn't say a farm is perfect. It says a person at Chivle looked, and tells you exactly how far.
Version 1, October 2026
The four checks
1
A real farm, in the region we serve
Identity and bank details are verified through Stripe's onboarding, the farm's address is confirmed to be in Michigan, and it isn't a duplicate of a farm already listed.
2
Practices, stated and labeled
The farm tells us which regenerative or organic practices it uses, in its own words where the list doesn't fit. Every grower page shows how far that claim has been checked, at one of the three levels below.
3
Regulated products reviewed before they list
Meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, and other licensed products are held until a person at Chivle has checked the farm's licensing or exemption. Produce lists without a hold.
4
The buyer guarantee
Every order is covered by the Quality Guarantee. A farm that doesn't make it right loses the mark.
The practices we ask about
- No-till or minimal tillage
- Cover cropping
- Rotational or managed grazing
- No synthetic fertilizers or pesticides
- Certified organic, or currently transitioning
A farm that uses none of these describes how it grows in its own words, and we decide from that.
Three levels, shown on every page
- Self-attested
- This farm told us how it grows; we haven't independently confirmed it yet.
- Chivle-reviewed
- Our team personally reviewed this farm's growing practices.
- Certified Organic
- Independently certified organic by the USDA National Organic Program.
The level and the review date sit in the header of each grower page. More on the practices themselves in what regenerative means on Chivle.
What we don't claim
- We don't visit every farm or test soil. The review is a conversation, not an audit.
- Chivle-reviewed isn't a certification. It means a person at Chivle went through the farm's practices with the farmer.
- Organic is the only certification we check automatically. Others a farm holds appear on its page in its own words.
How to check a farm yourself
Open the farm's page on chivle.com. The mark, its practices level, and the date of the last review are in the header. A Chivle Verified badge on a farm's own website or market stand links to that page. If it links anywhere else, it isn't ours.
Something doesn't match what you saw? Email info@chivle.com with the farm's name. We follow up with the farm and change or remove the level if the claim doesn't hold.
Questions
- Is Chivle Verified a certification?
- No. It means a farm has passed Chivle's checks to sell on the marketplace and has said how it grows. The practices level on each grower page says how far that claim has been checked. Certified Organic is the only outside certification we check automatically, against the USDA's public database.
- Does Chivle visit farms or test soil?
- Not today. The practices review is a conversation with the farmer about which practices they use, where, and for how long. We say so plainly so the Chivle-reviewed level is never read as more than it is.
- How do I check that a farm's badge is real?
- Click it. A genuine badge links to the farm's page on chivle.com, under /growers/, where the mark, the practices level, and the review date are shown in the header. A badge that links anywhere else isn't ours.
- What happens if a farm's claim doesn't hold up?
- Email info@chivle.com with the farm's name and what you saw. We follow up with the farm and change or remove its level, or the mark itself, if the claim doesn't stand.
- How does a farm earn the mark?
- By applying as a Founding Grower, completing onboarding, and talking through its practices with us. Farms at the Chivle-reviewed or Certified Organic level can put the Chivle Verified badge on their own website and signage, linking back to their Chivle page.
Earn the mark for your farm
The first 50 Michigan farms join as Founding Growers, with zero platform fees on their first $50,000 in sales, for up to a year. Reviewed farms get the badge for their website and market stand.
Apply as a Founding Grower