The Appalachian Farm to Family Cooperative (AFFC) uses open pasture, humane animal care, and no added hormones or antibiotics to produce nutritious, healthy and local food.
Here are some frequently asked questions:
And here are some answers:
Why Support Locally Grown?
Enhance your local economy: By purchasing produce and other items from local growers you are providing stability to your local economy through the support of local businesses.
Save natural resources: Buying locally makes you an invaluable link in the process of saving resources such as fossil fuels and packaging materials. Also, we are right here in your community so the expense of transportation and delivery is kept to a minimum.
Provide learning opportunities: Locally Grown supporters provide member growers the means to help educate our community about the importance of sustainable agriculture.
Supporting a way of life: The number of small farms in the United States has decreased dramatically in the last decade. Please help us preserve an honest and worthy means of making a living.
We believe that small, diverse, family-owned farms contribute to society’s overall health.
What are the terms of service?
THE TERMS OF SERVICE OF THE APPALACHIAN FARM TO FAMILY COOPERATIVE
Each member must accept personal responsibility for following our procedures.
Our system works because we the member-owners of the Appalachian Farm to Family Cooperative take pride and responsibility for making it work.
By joining the coop, you agree to follow these Terms of Service:
1. Each order is a legally enforceable contract to pick up and pay for the groceries ordered. You are obligated to pay for the items you order that we deliver to your pick-up site or home delivery, even if you do not pick them up, or are not present to receive your home delivery, unless they are delivered to you damaged, spoiled, or broken.
2. When you order, pick up your groceries during the time specified for your pickup site. This is part of our contract. We are not a giant supermarket with acres of cold storage. Most of our pick up sites do not have the ability to hold orders past their operating hours, especially if refrigerated or frozen items are involved. It is your responsibility to know where to pick up your food and the hours the pick-up site is open.
3. All orders must be paid before they leave the pickup site or are left at a home delivery. Members are expected to pay with cash or check. Prompt payment is a condition of membership.
4. We understand that emergencies happen on delivery day. If this happens to you, please call the coop at 423-341-3377 as soon as possible. The earlier we know about a situation, the better we will be able to deal with it. You can also contact the coop before the monthly order closes about making alternative delivery arrangements. Depending on the circumstances, we may be able to arrange something other than the specified hours for a particular site, but this must be arranged before you turn in your order.
5. If you sign up for a delivery site, but then need to change to a different pick up site, we can do that if you contact us before the order closes. Send an email to info@appfarmtofamily.com with your member ID and the change information.
6. When you pick up your order, make sure you get all the items you order. Take the time to check your invoice thoroughly to make sure you get everything. If an item isn’t there, report it at the cashier table when you check out and make sure it is written on the missing item log so your account can be properly credited. You can deduct the amount of the missing item(s) from your invoice, and pay the new amount. All claims for missing/damaged items must be made at the pick-up site. Errors in the accounting on invoices (including credits or debits that you believe are errors) must be reported within 5 days of delivery day. Report those errors to info@appfarmtofamily.com.
7. Each pick-up site has its own rules for handling orders and items not picked up. If the pick-up site has the ability to store items/orders not picked up, the cooperative will make one attempt to contact you about picking up your items that will include the phone number and name of the person who has your order or missing items. The items will probably not be at the regular pick-up site, but at someone’s home. It is the member’s responsibility to contact the volunteer who has the items to arrange for a pick-up. The cooperative will not make multiple attempts to contact you. You should contact us sooner rather than later about picking up. If an item spoils or loses quality because you did not pick it up promptly, you will still be expected to pay for it.
8. Treat the coop volunteers well. We have volunteers who invest their time and effort as sweat equity in growing the future of this cooperative. There can never be a question of an “employee-customer” relationship in your interactions with the volunteer workers of the Appalachian Farm to Family Cooperative. Do not complain to delivery day volunteers or berate or blame them for something that may have gone wrong with your order. Volunteers have no control over what the producers do. If you have an issue with the producer, bring it to the attention of the producer. If you have an issue with the cooperative, bring it to the attention of Michael Templeton, 423-341-3377, info@appfarmtofamily.com). Mistreatment of volunteers is a serious breech of cooperative ethics that could lead to the revocation of membership.
9. Please keep your contact information current on our cooperative records. We encourage you to list cell phone numbers on your membership, so we can contact you directly on delivery day if there is a problem. If you change your email address, notify us. Email changes or updates to info@appfarmtofamily.com.
10. For members approved as producers, these Terms of Service include the cooperative’s Producer Procedures and Standards.