Hey Charlotte & Western NC: What do you know of The Farmers Fresh Market Project?

[lynnlato]

A friend recently told me about this local foods delivery service she tried and I was surprised that I had never heard of it. She sent me the link, http://www.farmersfreshmarket.org/rut..., and I just checked it out.

It seems very vague in details and information. The information on the "local farmers" doesn't give location, addresses or much specific information. Being an avid local farmers market gal, I've not heard of any of these farms which I find strange.

Anyone use this service or know anything about it?

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Fresh Market
4223 Providence Rd, Charlotte, NC

[MelMM]

So, I've been using this service since March, and thought it was time I reported back.

Here's how it works: If you are an individual, as opposed to a restaurant, you sign up for the Metropolitan Buying Club. There is no fee for this. There are several "hostesses", whose homes are the pickup locations in Charlotte. You order what you want from the web site, and it is delivered to the hostess' house on the delivery day. I was relieved that I didn't have to pick up my order at the exact delivery time. The hostess will hold your food until you get off work, within reason. In addition to whatever you have ordered from the web site ($17.50 min order), the hostess has usually ordered some bulk items that can be divided among members. For example, eggs. The hostess will usually order a bulk crate of 30 dozen eggs. If you want some of those, you let her know beforehand, and she will divide out the eggs and you pay her when you pick them up, instead of ordering them online. Goat cheese and lettuce are other bulk items the hostesses usually order.

It took me a while to get the hang of this system. Communication from the organization is not the best. I did not get an email explaining how it works. When I placed my first order, the program was on an every other week delivery schedule. But the web site did not say this. After I placed the order I got an email telling me that they weren't delivering to my location that week. I will say, that they were willing to bend over backwards to get my order to me, but I just asked them to hold my order until the following week. At this point I still didn't know about the bulk items. I found out about that when I finally picked up my first order. Unlike a CSA, where the food is left on a back porch or in a garage, and your interaction with the host is minimal, with this program the hostess has your food inside her house, has double checked your order to make sure everything is there, divided out any bulk items you might be getting. She does a lot of work, and is really your primary contact with the organization. It's important to keep in mind that this is a non-profit, and that the hostesses are volunteers.

So about the food... All the participating farms are located in Rutherford county. I have been very impressed with the quality and variety of items available. Obviously the selection changes quite a bit with the seasons. In the spring, I was getting things like pea shoots, watercress, fresh grape leaves, and the best lettuce and herb mix I have ever come across. Right now there a variety of potatoes, squashes, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans. There are asian long beans right now. I've liked that there are some "interesting" vegetables and herbs available. Like the long beans, kaffir lime leaves, grape leaves, and such. Things that aren't already in my garden. In addition to the vegetables and herbs, there is fruit available, and meats. In the spring I got lamb. Right now there beef, pork and chicken available. Last week I got a couple pastured chickens, that are processed on the farm. Not cheap, but it sits well with my conscience. There has also been a limited, but interesting, selection of jams and jellies - kudzu jelly, mulberry jam, and right now rose petal jelly. There is always fresh goat cheese, and sometimes some aged cheese as well. At one point I was able to get several varieties of rice.

In the past I subscribed to the Poplar Ridge CSA and more recently belonged to the Know Your Farms food club. No more. The quality and variety is much better with this new program. Yes, it's a little confusing until you get the hang of it, and communication is not always the best, but the organizers are responsive to questions and the products are top notch.

Oh, and about those strawberries in March? Greenhouse. I also got some tomatoes in March grown hydroponically by the high school FFA kids. Neither the strawberries or the tomatoes were as good as they are grown outdoors in season, but it's neat that they are trying stuff, and neat that the FFA kids had an outlet to sell what they grew.

[MelMM]

I had not heard of it, but I checked out the link and it looks pretty promising. I registered and am going to give it a try. I've been in the Poplar Ridge Farm CSA, and am currently ordering through Know Your Farms, which offers more flexibility. This looks like a similar setup to KYF, but no membership fee. So seems like there is nothing to lose by trying it.

I would guess that the reason you haven't seen these farms at the local markets is that they are all in Rutherford County.

[lynnlato]

"I would guess that the reason you haven't seen these farms at the local markets is that they are all in Rutherford County."

True, but Rutherford County isn't that far away from Charlotte and our markets generally draw a wide range of farmers from the general area. I guess anything that encourages folks to buy from the farmers directly is a good thing. I just want to be sure that I'm not purchasing from resellers. It seems resellers are moving into some of our markets. Folks assume that they are buying from growers, when in reality they're just buying from sellers who got their fruits & veggies from Florida or elsewhere.

Are you familiar with any of the farms?

[MelMM]

I didn't look through them all, but no. But this service is a project of Foothills Connect, which is a nonprofit involved in business development in Rutherford County (which is why all the farms are there). So it doesn't seem to me that you would be dealing with resellers in this case. If you go through the list of farms and click on the descriptions, you will see that they are mostly very small, and all in Rutherford County. I think this sounds like a really neat project which gives small growers in that area access to a larger, urban market.

My biggest concern would be whether you can actually get the items you order. Because the producers are small, you might have an issue with them running out of items. That happens to me now with Know Your Farms, which is a similar service, but not nonprofit. I never know which, if any, of the items I ordered will be there when I go to pick up. I have about 5 months left on my membership with them, so what I will probably do is alternate weeks while I try this out. I am actually mostly interested in meat, because I have a garden and grow quite a bit, and I can get local dairy and eggs at nearby stores.

My take on this, is since there isn't a membership fee, it's worth a try. It might take a while to figure out which producers' products you like, and if you can get the items you need reliably enough, but I can't see the harm in giving it a shot. That said, if you have the time to go to the farmer's markets, this service may not be as valuable to you as it would be to me. I have a more than full time job, and am a competitive ultra-endurance athlete. My weekends are spoken for with all day training, and the good markets are not close to where I live, so it is just not practical for me to go to the farmers markets on any regular basis. Being able to have a weekly pickup and grab my meats and veggies for the week is a huge deal to me, which is why I have gone with the CSA model, and now Know Your Farms. But if your situation is different, you might prefer to pick and choose at the farmer's market.

[lynnlato]

All good points, MelMM. I currently have a local farmer who delivers eggs to me every week and I have beef and pork farmers that I buy from at our local farmers markets when they are up and running. And then there is my favorite organic farmers, Bill & Donna, who always have the most beautiful veggies and good advice on cooking and great big smiles and friendly conversation when I see them at market. I like going to market, and have the time to do it, but you're right this is potentially a good thing and fills a void for busy folks who want to support local farms.

I hope you'll post back and let me know about your experience with them. My friend said that the delivery person (I forget his name) was very accomodating and would go out of his way to make it convenient for her when her schedule was tight. Good luck to you!

[MelMM]

I will absolutely post back. KYF is shut down for the month of March, so I will try an order this month. I think you really have to order over several months to get a feel for something like this. After all, no one has a whole lot going right now. So this will be an ongoing saga. I'll keep you posted.

[lynnlato]

No one has heard of it? It seems to be doing a fair amount of business down here in suburban Charlotte. Someone sent me their monthly newsletter email and they said they have strawberries - how in the world do they have strawberries from local farmers???