nonprofit cooperative seed network and seed store
Experimental Farm Network
Industry Gardening
A nonprofit cooperative seed network and online seed store supporting collaborative plant breeding, rare seed increases, and climate-adapted agroecological crops. It scores highly because unusual seed access is tied to nonprofit cooperative research, open participation, and long-term food resilience rather than private catalog rollup growth.
Why this matters: Experimental Farm Network makes rare, experimental, and culturally important seeds available while treating seed adaptation as public-interest research.
Letter grade A Good Medium confidence (AI) Rubric gcd-rubric-v1
Final Score
57* A - Good
A* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.
Small business context
This entry is classified as a small business using observable scale signals: independent control, local or limited operations, and no evidence of public-company or national-chain scale. The small-business calibration keeps the ordinary rubric but reads evidence at person scale: living-wage pricing is not extraction by itself, while worker and contractor treatment, owner surplus, transparency, advertising pressure, dissent tolerance, and recourse matter more. Harm, toxicity, surveillance, labor, coercion, opacity, and hidden-parent penalties are not relaxed.
Applied cap: No structure cap
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Evaluation Overview
A - Good
The score turns mainly on Extraction; no penalty currently dominates the evaluation.
Strengths
- Extraction8/10
- Ownership7/10
- Solidarity with the Unemployed7/7
Penalties
- No penalties applied in this version.
Evidence state
- ConfidenceMedium confidence (AI)
- ThoroughnessDeveloped (AI)
- Linked claims8
- Direct axis claims8
- Coverage7/13
Scoring Axes
| Axis | Score | Why this score |
|---|---|---|
Ownership
?
Control rights: shareholder-dominated at 0, worker cooperative control
at 10.
|
7 / 10 |
Nonprofit cooperative structure puts EFN well above private seed catalogs and creator-commerce stores. Linked evidence
|
Governance
?
Binding decision authority: centralized control at 0, democratic
stakeholder control at 10.
|
6 / 10 |
EFN has nonprofit cooperative and open-participation signals, which are stronger than ordinary private seed sellers. Linked evidence
|
Extraction
?
Surplus allocation, wage share, CEO pay ratio, margins, and structured
extraction judgment.
|
8 / 10 |
The seed store supports nonprofit cooperative research rather than shareholder extraction or catalog-rollup growth, so EFN belongs near the top on extraction. Linked evidence
|
Labor Sovereignty
?
Worker power: coercive conditions at 0, co-determination or ownership at
7. Employee dissatisfaction matters only when source-backed evidence
shows concrete limits on worker agency, such as coercive scheduling,
retaliation, wage theft, harassment, unsafe conditions, suppression of
worker voice, or extreme turnover.
|
4 / 7 |
Open volunteer and grower participation gives EFN more labor-sovereignty value than ordinary private catalogs, but the reviewed record does not show worker ownership, union power, or binding employment governance. Linked evidence
|
Solidarity with the
Unemployed
?
Treatment of exits and nonworkers, including severance, redeployment,
and non-competes.
|
7 / 7 |
Rare seed access, seed-saving projects, and food-security-oriented breeding serve people outside ordinary market power by expanding resilient self-provisioning capacity. Linked evidence
|
Loss-Bearing Fidelity
?
Willingness to absorb costs to preserve values, workers, users, and
public obligations.
|
6 / 7 |
EFN absorbs organizational effort into public-interest plant breeding, rare seed increases, and sustainable agriculture research instead of only selling conventional packets. Linked evidence
|
Market Conduct
?
Pricing fairness, switching costs, lock-in, and rent extraction.
|
5 / 5 |
A broad rare and experimental seed catalog backed by many growers gives gardeners meaningful alternatives to consolidated seed commerce. Linked evidence
|
Product Integrity
?
Preservation of quality rather than degradation for monetization.
|
5 / 5 |
EFN product integrity is unusually strong because seed sales are tied to plant breeding, rare seed increases, non-GE traditional methods, and agroecological adaptation. Linked evidence
|
Scale Integrity
?
Whether growth improves or degrades fairness and accountability.
|
4 / 5 |
EFN has a meaningful national seed-store catalog while remaining nonprofit and cooperative in purpose. Linked evidence
|
Penalties
No penalties applied in this version.
Bonus Credits
| Bonus | Credit | Why this credit |
|---|---|---|
Openness to Dissent
?
Credit for tolerating internal, user, customer, worker, and public
dissent without retaliation, capture, or viewpoint laundering.
|
1 / 3 |
EFN earns openness credit because its organizing tool is described as free and open to all and it invites volunteer and grower participation. Linked evidence
|
Constitutional Spirit
?
Credit for respecting constitutional rights and civil-liberties norms
even where private law does not strictly require it.
|
1 / 3 |
EFN earns constitutional-spirit credit because its work explicitly connects sustainable agriculture, ecological preservation, climate adaptation, and long-term food security. Linked evidence
|
Good Deal
?
Credit for unusually fair value: durable quality, fair pricing, low
lock-in, and clear customer surplus.
|
2 / 3 |
A large catalog of rare, experimental, and grower-produced seeds creates unusual practical value for gardeners and seed savers. Linked evidence
|
Cost Transparency
?
Credit for clear posted prices, all-in fees, unit costs, public rate
cards, margin/cost visibility, or surplus-allocation transparency,
especially in markets where opaque quotes, hidden fees, or
individualized pricing are normal.
|
1 / 3 |
Catalog publication gives some price and availability transparency, though it is not an open-book cost or margin model. Linked evidence
|
Confidence Basis
Confidence Basis
Confidence is computed from the evidence trail and review state, not typed into the profile by hand.
Medium 74/100
8 verified linked claims 8 direct axis claims 0 disputed claims 7/13 components covered
This confidence label measures the source-backed evidence trail. AI-scaffolded scores remain tentative until human review.
Claim confidence 19/20
8 verified linked claims
Source quality 12/18
Best source per verified claim, weighted by institutional reliability
Direct axis-specific claims 9/18
8 direct claims across 13 active components
Dispute load 12/12
0 disputed claims on this entity
Recency 10/10
Newest accepted timestamp: May 16, 2026
Reviewer status 7/12
Human-reviewed components score higher than AI scaffolding
Component coverage 5/10
7/13 evidence-bearing components have direct support
Evidence State
Evidence State
Profile stateAI draft / human-pending
VerificationUnverified
ConfidenceMedium confidence (AI)
ThoroughnessDeveloped (AI)
Correction routeUse “Challenge this rating” for
factual errors, missing counterevidence, source problems, or calculation
mistakes.
Company responseCompany representatives can
submit source-backed corrections; payment never changes scores or
reviewer authority.
Claims and Sources
Claims are the evidence record. Each claim needs a source link, axis category, status, confidence level, and timestamp before it can support a score.
* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.1The Experimental Farm Network seed store supports the Experimental Farm Network Cooperative, a Philadelphia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
- About EFN seed storeOfficial self-description · 68%
2Experimental Farm Network says its organizing tool is free to use and open to all and invites volunteers, project organizers, and growers with unique seeds.
- Experimental Farm Network aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
- About EFN seed storeOfficial self-description · 68%
3Experimental Farm Network says its 2026 seed catalog includes more than 100 new varieties, more than 500 returning favorites, and seeds produced by over 70 growers.
- About EFN seed storeOfficial self-description · 68%
4Experimental Farm Network runs rare seed saving and increase projects in which growers cultivate rare varieties, harvest seed or germplasm, and send it back to organizers.
- EFN rare seed saving projectGeneral web source · 58%
5Experimental Farm Network says it works to fight global climate change, preserve the natural environment, and ensure food security into the distant future.
- Experimental Farm Network aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
6Experimental Farm Network describes its purpose as facilitating collaboration on plant breeding and sustainable agriculture research, including traditional non-genetic-engineering development of crops suited for organic and agroecological production.
- About EFN seed storeOfficial self-description · 68%
7Experimental Farm Network offers a large rare and experimental seed catalog whose seed sales support nonprofit cooperative plant-breeding and sustainable-agriculture work rather than only private retail margin.
- About EFN seed storeOfficial self-description · 68%
8Experimental Farm Network publicly lists its online seed catalog and explains that the seed store supports the nonprofit cooperative network behind the breeding and research work.
- About EFN seed storeOfficial self-description · 68%
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How This Page Is Maintained
Evidence comes in through contributors, is checked by verifiers, and is synthesized by reviewers. Founder authority remains narrow and visible; scores recalculate when verified claims or the rubric change.
Civic Note
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Audit Log
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The entry adds a nonprofit cooperative rare-seed and plant-breeding network requested for the Gardening category, with direct official sources and full component coverage.