Questions and Answers

What do you mean by "Real Food"? What do you mean by "Real Farmers"?

For us, Real Food is:
Good - Fresh, nutritious and delicious.
Clean - Free of toxic chemicals and preservatives.
Fair - Farmers realize a fair price for their products and a living wage.

These and other important ideals are promoted by Slow Food, an international organization we are active with.� We encourage you to learn more about it: www.slowfoodatlanta.org

Our collective of small family farmers and food producers are to us Real Farmers. Most of us have returned to family land and are dedicated to growing methods that are healthy for us, the environment and your family. Some of us are Certified USDA Organic but many of our small family farms have opted not to be federally certified though we use the same growing methods. Real Food may not look like what you are used to seeing in grocery stores: often there will be spots; different shapes and colors; yes, sometimes some bugs. Real Food is not perfect but it is more nutritious and tastes better that what you may be used to if you don't already shop at local farmer's markets. We help to create a viable marketing opportunity and promote small-scale farming as a vocation.

New! Click here to see our behind-the-scenes video!

Are there membership fees?

To help support our school school garden projects and offset overhead costs we have an Annual Membership Fee of $25 per year. This will be added to your first order when we process it (you will see it on the Order Confirmation email) and is renewed every 12 months for active accounts (we do not automatically charge anything: the renewal fee is only applied to an order when your membership has expired). Membership allows you to order from our Online Market which is operated as a buying club.

Will I have to buy vegetables I don't want?

Unlike some co-ops or CSAs where everyone gets the same box of produce, with our Online Market we offer a Custom Choice option for an additional $4 packing fee. This allows you to order what you want and the quantities you want, based on our availability. Just choose the Custom Choice Order item and then go shopping!

*Some items may have a limit on the quantity you can order to assure that everyone gets a share.

Our Farmer's Pick Orders are carefully selected each week from several local and regional farm's harvests. We try to provide a diverse selection of produce each week and include some standard items regularly such as lettuce and tomatoes. Only local and regional produce is included but you can add any other items from the Online Market at no additional fee. We don't know the final contents of our Farmer's Picks until everything comes in but we do offer a "forecast" of what we expect in the "Online Market is Open" email and our "Weekly Newsletter" email includes a picture of the final order along with a detailed list of the contents.� We archive our Newsletters under the Newsletters page of the website so you can view them anytime and look up recipes.�

Controversial Vegetables: there are a few items that we have learned our Members have love/hate feelings about! We generally will not include Eggplant, Okra or Collards unless we don't have enough other items. Every season you may find these in a Farmer's Pick once or twice. We'll include recipes so hopefully you'll discover how wonderful they can be! For those of us who love these much-maligned veggies we will offer them individually in the Online Market so you can add them to a Farmer's Pick or include them in your Custom Choice order.

How do I order?

To get started Register your New Account.� When we open our Online Market each week by Friday at 5pm EST you will receive an email announcement (we try to open earlier if possible).� Then go shopping! Our minimum weekly order is $20. �You can choose between three ordering types:

Farmer's Pick Produce Order at $20 or $30

~ or ~

Custom Choice Order with a $20 product minimum
plus a $4 packing fee.

You can add more items to a Farmer's Pick Order with no extra fee. �We close our Online Market at 10am Tuesday to total up the orders and get final harvest reports to our farms. Once the Online Market is closed for the week we cannot add late orders! You can always call or email us if you have questions about ordering: farm@moorefarmsandfriends.com or Farm office:� 256-449-9417. Please always call ASAP if you need to cancel your order!

Going out of town?� No problem, just don't order!� You do not have to order every week with our program, just when you want another box of good food from our farms.

How do I add to an order I have already placed?

As detailed as our Online Market is, once an order is completed you cannot add to it! If you want to add items that will total at least $20 you can place a second order. In this case please make a note on the Comments section so we can link the two orders and adjust for duplicate order fees if necessary. If the additional items total less than $20 please email us with a list of what you would like added and we'll take care of it on the "back end".

Incidentally, our website is an inventoried system so once you start to place an order you have about 20 minutes to complete it otherwise it will "time out" and your order will cancel. This is a safety measure designed to prevent someone from tying up all of the Filet Mignon or Strawberries and then never checking out!

How and when do I pay?

We accept Visa/Mastercard/Discover Credit and Debit cards. Payment is made at order checkout. Sorry, our Security Certificate does not allow us to store Credit Card numbers as a fraud safeguard. We do have a Membership Investment opportunity for those who would like to pre-pay at a minimum of $1,000. Member Investors do not need to enter credit cards with each order and there are a number of terrific benefits! Please contact us for more details about becoming an Investment Member.

*All applicable taxes are included in our pricing.

When and Where do I pick up my order?

We are fortunate to offer strategic pickup locations in Metro Atlanta and other select areas.� This is only possible because of the generosity of our host sites.� Please be mindful of their businesses and call us directly on our cell phone if you have any questions: 256-282-7889. No one will call you to remind you to pickup your order if you forget but we do send an "Order Delivered" email reminder. Pickup locations are subject to change. If you are a Local Alabama pickup please email us for details about locations and ordering.

View our PICKUP LOCATIONS

What if I can't get to a computer to order?

No problem, give us a call or send us an email and we can enter the order for you. �Please remember to do so before 10am on Tuesdays. �If we can't take your call right away leave a detailed message about what you want and where your pickup location is.

Farm: 256.449.9417

Cell: 256.282.7889

Email: farm@moorefarmsandfriends.com

Important Order and Account Info!

Please call us right away if there is ever a problem with your pickup. This would be if you can't find the location, can't find your order, or if you're late and in danger of not arriving in time. Our AT&T cell phone number is 256-282-7889, please keep it with you! If we are at the farm the call will roll over to the farm line so we will always get your message. Each pickup location also has our cell number posted so just ask if you don't have it handy (we can't help you if you email us the next day!). Other problems that are not as urgent such as a missing item please email us ASAP. It's difficult for us to replace or credit if you tell us about a problem weeks later. Please do not worry about calling too late or too early, we have an answering machine and we will get your message.

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You can login to your account anytime to check your order, account information and order history. One last hint, please be sure we have a phone number on your account where we can reach you on the delivery day: we hate to get a home answering machine when we need to reach you right away. We promise we won't call unless necessary and we never ever share your personal information with anyone.�

How Are Meat and Dairy Orders Kept Cold?

Note: Per USDA regulations small-scale producers must have our meats frozen. We are not permitted to handle fresh (not frozen) meats. Most pickup locations have a cooler near the order boxes for Meats and Dairy. Other locations please ask a sales clerk. Each package is labeled with your name and location.� We place a bright green "ADDITIONAL ITEMS IN COOLER!" label on the front of your box as a reminder.