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CSA Philosophy~ the agreement between city dweller & farmer |
CSA Philosophy~ the agreement between city dweller & farmer
CSA
POLICIES-
We ask all new subscribers to
carefully
read the following document, print a copy and sign it, and send it in
with
your first payment. These are the guidelines that keep our CSA
running
smoothly, and you will be responsible for knowing them.
The Philosophy of CSA –
Community
supported agriculture is a relationship one step above a simple
convenience,
a give and take of produce for cash. It is based on mutual
respect
between the customers and the farmers. It is crucial that our
subscribers
understand two things:
First, that we rely on you for most of our income, and we expect
payments
to be made on time;
Second, once your become a member we'll automatically renew your
membership each month and we need you to tell us if you are cancelling
membership;
Third, that we are planting and tending crops for you for months before
you see them in your boxes. We harvest, wash, pack and deliver
the
boxes, and they become yours. Whether you pick up your box on a
given
week or not, the food was ready for you, and we can't credit you for
not
picking up with less than seven days notice. Pickups need to
be made during the listed pickup site times, we can't credit you
for availability or quality problems if the boxes are leftover.
Subscription Cost – Prices for the boxes can be found here Prices.
Box Sizes -- We offer three different box sizes for your convenience. The boxes will be labelled with your name, so even if you've recently requested another size please only take the box we sent for you. Simply changing payment amounts will not change your membership, just contact Valerie about it. If you're making a paypal payment, please send a separate e-mail to Valerie with any correspondance. In the unlikely event that the boxes aren't labelled at all, the list will have your box size on it.
Communication: Terra Firma delivers a weekly newsletter with the boxes. This is our only form of communicating to our membership about changes in delivery dates, prices, and special events/offers. If you do not read the newsletter, we cannot take responsibility for problems you experience as a result. The newsletter is available online at www.terrafirmafarm.com , in the newsletter archives section.
We encourage subscribers to give us feedback about box quality and contents by emailing us at Goldenbell@aol.com. It's very important that you include your full name, and your account name, on all correspondance. Not including your name may cause you to miss a vacation credit if we don't know which account to hold seven days in advance.
The pickup site list is our way of communicating with you whether a box was delivered for you, and what size. If you have a friend pickup for you, be sure to ask them to pick up only the box with your name on it. We do not go back and pickup the site lists later, so please do not leave any checks or correspondance at the pickup site.
Start me up: Please choose only one method and not a combination of the two as we need your startup information to arrive together with your payments. Making an online payment and mailing in your sign up information may cause a delay. By mail: Simply send in this document, a filled-out application, and your first check. The first payment should be for the $35 deposit and one month's service. As you may be starting not exactly on the first week of the month, you'll only be charged for the boxes you do get. For this reason, quarterly payments are discouraged for the first payment. If you absolutely have to, go ahead. After the sign up is received, we'll be able to tell you how many boxes you'll be getting. Until Valerie has the start up, she won't be able to proactively give you the billing. Valerie will contact you with your pick-up location and start date. There is no special quarterly plan to switch to - everyone is billed the same amount every month, and if you prepay for three months you get the discount.
With Online payments: Send a separate e-mail directly to us in addition to your paypal payment for the deposit and first month or quarter. Contact Valerie at Goldenbell@aol.com. You can start up immediately, then send this signed policy letter by mail. Valerie will contact you with your start up information and the amount due for your next payment.
Once your become a member we'll automatically renew your membership each month. We will not instantly assume you have cancelled if we don't have your payment exactly on time. Just let us know if you do decide to cancel. The way to avoid any inconvenience is to keep an eye on that account sheet and make sure those payments are sent. For payment and autopayment options see Prices.
Deposit: Your first payment should include the deposit of $35, which is refundable upon timely notice of cancellation. The deposit intended as a means of making sure everyone knows to notify us if they are discontinuing.
Cancellation: We rely on our members to notify us when they choose to cancel their membership. An e-mail is fine, or if you call please include the account name and a contact phone number. Like any change in service we need seven days notice. If you forget to tell us you'll still be responsible for the price of the boxes being delivered for you. Paypal is just a tool you use to pay us. We have no access to your account, what is sent, or when. If you have paypal autopayments set up, be sure to cancel those by logging into your account at www.paypal.com
Credit: Occasionally, your box may be missing an item, or have spoiled items. Contact us for a credit as soon as possible, so we'll be aware of the problem. If you have something that was not on the list, we used a substitute item in your box.
When You Pick Up Your First
Box,
there are several things you need to know:
Please observe the pick-up times carefully. Doors may be
locked
or hosts gone to bed during other times.
You are responsible for remembering your box size. The
boxes
are all labeled by name, and the list shows which box size we sent for
you.
Do not look through other peoples boxes. All the
like-sized
boxes contain the same items.
Return your boxes for recycling. Please unfold them
carefully
according to instructions on the bottom. We use
the boxes multiple times.
Find your name on the sign~off sheet and cross it off .
If your name is not there, do not pick up a box. Please sign off
as the site host may want to know who has already picked up. You
won't want to leave notes for Valerie, or checks at the pick up
site.
The list is outgoing communication only, for incoming contact us
directly.
Late pick-ups are not eligible for credits, due to natural
deterioration
of fresh produce. Lots of things can happen to boxes after
hours, we don't credit for any of them. We don't even
ask the hosts to leave them out.
Payment & Acccount name: Subscriptions must always be paid in advance, by the first of each month. You may pay in advance for as many months as you like, without considering it a committment (refunds available). Prepaid quarterly and yearly subscriptions are discounted. There is an account sheet stapled to the sign off form each week with your balance. Positive numbers indicate an amount due.
How we bill: Accounts are billed monthly on the first~ the monthly price is the same every month and we ask that you remember to pay it. Like rent. The account sheet is at the pick up site each week if you need to check your balance. The list is made a week in advance, so don't be concerned if a mailed payment doesn't show up on the list for two weeks, allowing time for mail. Valerie also e-mails statements around the 15th but due to many varients we can't promise that you'll be able to read it.
Vacation credits and such are applied when Valerie gets your notice. If you notify us in June of a vacation in August, the credit will be applied in June, and will not be itemized in August. Your credit will be reflected in the balance carried forward. Your account ID is the name on the sign out sheet at the pick up site – please write it on each monthly check to avoid confusion.
Making payments: There are three methods you may use to make payments. We have absolutely no preference. Most importantly please include your account name with any payment or correspondance. It's the name on your box each week. The account id will normally be your last name - if we have two people with the same name initials are added to differentiate. We accept checks, which can be mailed to the PO box below. Many people use their own bank's online bill paying service. Paypal can be used to send miscellaneous payments, or to send a single month/quarter/ year payment, or you can set it up to automatically send the monthly or quarterly payment every thirty/ ninety days. It's very important to note that paypal does not know about any changes in box sizes, vacation credits, or anything about your account balance with the farm except what you tell them. Valerie has no access to your paypal account, and we don't send paypal "bills". You're in complete control of your paypal account. If you set up automatic paypal, which many members do, please remember to cancel it or change the subscription rates as needed. Alternatelly, cancelling your paypal "subscription" payments alone will not alert us to any changes in service, we'll assume you want to use a different method of payment. So be sure to e-mail Valerie.
Late Payments: Late fees apply when your payment is two weeks late, and overdue accounts may be suspended. Right now we're e-mailing a late fee notice and if no payment is received the box deliveries are put on hold. If you don't have e-mail you'll see the late fee listed on the account sheet stapled to the sign off form. It is highly recommended that you write on your calendar or fridge when your next payment is due if you like paying quarterly or yearly. If you are cancelled twice for non-payment, we may require an auto pay system or long term prepayment. And to repeat - Paypal is just a tool you use to pay us. We have no access to your account, what is sent, or when.
Subscriber Vacations If you know in advance that you will be unable to pickup your box, give us a call seven days or more in advance. We're growing the veggies for you based on a monthly subscription, and the credits for vacations are proportionately small. This reflects the cost to us of the unused produce, and we are hoping to discourage overuse of vacations. Vacations are credited as: $10 Small, $16 Medium, $21 Large. If you have a friend pick up your box and they join, you get a referral credit of $18.
The Box Pricing and Terra Firma's Vacation: Terra Firma's monthly box price is based on 50 bountiful boxes delivered over the course of the year. Two months of the year you will be getting a fifth box for no extra cost. We make up the difference in December by taking two weeks off, during which we don’t deliver any boxes. The monthly box price, though, is the same as every other month.
Terra Firma’s Two Weeks Off -- We take a vacation at the end of each year, for three reasons. First, the end of December is a bleak time in terms of vegetables, so you won’t miss out on much. Second, a larger percentage of subscribers take vacations during the same two weeks, which makes it convenient for you as well. Third, we need a vacation from the rigorous schedule that growing and harvesting food for three hundred plus people demands. Of course, we can't credit you for vacations you take during our vacation. The newsletter will have the exact dates of vacation when the time nears. People who join at year end are naturally excluded from financing our haitus.
New Subscribers -- We strongly urge you to read through the Member's Answer Zone before picking up your first box. There are many common questions answered there!
Please sign below and send a copy to Terra Firma with your application form or after making online payment.
I have read the guidelines above and agree to follow them during my tenure as a subscriber to Terra Firma:
Signed:__________________________________
Date:______________
Sign-up
& Rates