What precautions are you taking during the COVID-19 crisis?
First, Food Security is a primary concern of ours. We believe that a thriving food system with farmers growing food for our local communities is the key to ensuring Food Security. During the COVID-19 crisis we are taking many precautions here at Moore Farms to be sure your orders are safely packaged: we only reuse our cardboard packing boxes after they have been returned and stored for 1 week; we continually wipe down our work tables in the packing shed with disinfectant; we wash our hands frequently and use hand sanitizer and no one we have come into contact with is ill. We clean return the thermal packing materials and cold packs for reuse as this is costly packaging. There is no evidence that the virus can be transmitted through food. If you like, you can make your own veggie wash with 10% white vinegar and 90% water solution, soak for ten minutes then rinse. We are all in this together and we really appreciate our wonderful Members! Please everyone be careful and stay safe.
Have you made other temporary changes to your program?
Yes! Not all of our Pickup Locations are open and some have specific guidelines, please see the Pickup Locations page for details. Due to the greatly increased demand for local food options in the Metro Atlanta area we have condensed our weekly ordering cycle. For the time being we will open our Online Market on Friday, we try to be turned on by noon. Members have the weekend to place orders and we close Monday at midnight. We will not send a Monday order reminder email and our Weekly Newsletter will now be sent on Thursday. As always be sure to order early for the best selection and since we have been selling out each week we might not have what you want if you wait until the last minute!
What do you mean by “Real Food” and “Real Farmers”?
For us, Real Food (or Good Food) is defined as:
- Good – Fresh, nutritious and delicious.
- Clean – Free of toxic chemicals and preservatives.
- Fair – Farmers realize a fair price for their products and earn 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. Many 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 for the alternative Certified Naturally Grown program which is scaled for small farmers. Real Food may not look like what you are used to seeing in grocery stores: sometimes there are spots; different shapes and colors; yes, sometimes a bug. Real Food is not always perfect but it is more nutritious and tastes better than what you may find in grocery stores. Finally, our Online Market helps to create a viable marketing opportunity and promote small-scale farming as a vocation.
Click here to see our behind-the-scenes video!
Are there membership fees?
To help offset overhead costs we have an Annual Membership Fee of $36 per year. This will be added to your first order and is renewed every 12 months when you re-order (we do not automatically charge anything: the membership 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 $5 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 in the Online Market!
*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 seasonal 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 our “Online Market is Open” email. Our “Weekly Newsletter” email includes a picture of the week’s $20 Farmer’s Pick box along with a detailed list of the contents.
Controversial Vegetables: there are a few items that we have learned our Members have love/hate feelings about! We use a light hand with Eggplant, Okra and Collards, in 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 offer them in the Online Market so you can add them to a Farmer’s Pick or include them in your Custom Choice order. We want everyone to be happy with the weekly selections!
How do I order?
To get started Register your New Account. When we open our Online Market (DURING COVID FRIDAY AT NOON) you will receive an email announcement with the Farmer Pick Forecast and highlights for the upcoming week. Then go shopping! Our minimum order is $20. You can choose between three ordering types:
- Farmer’s Pick Produce Order ($20, $30 or $40)
- Dinner Packages or Meat Packages (vary depending on availability)
- Custom Choice Order with a $20 product minimum plus a $5 packing fee.
You can add more items to a Farmer’s Pick Order with no extra fee. We close our Online Market at Midnight Monday 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: [email protected] or Farm office: 256-282-7889.
Please always call us ASAP if you have a timely problem or question. If you need to cancel your order call us by 5pm Sunday. We spend as little time as possible in the office so a phone call is your best bet to reach us quickly!
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 try take care of it on the “back end” if the items are still available.
Our website is an inventory-based system so once you start to place an order you have about 30 minutes to complete it otherwise it will “time out” and your order will cancel. Same goes with “incomplete” orders so be sure you go all the way to the end of the ordering process, until you get your order number. These are safety measures to prevent someone from tying up all of the Filet Mignon or Strawberries and then never completing their checkout!
How and when do I pay?
We accept Visa/Mastercard/Discover/American Express Credit and Debit cards and PayPal. 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 Membership Investment opportunities for those who would like to pre-pay at a minimum of $500. Member Investors do not need to enter credit cards with each order and there are a number of terrific benefits! Click here 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 very fortunate to offer strategic pickup locations in Metro Atlanta. This is only possible because of the generosity of our host sites. Please be mindful of their businesses and call us directly if you have any questions: 256-282-7889. No one will call you to remind you to pick up your order but we do send an “Order Delivery” email reminder on the day of your delivery. PLEASE SEE THE PICKUP LOCATIONS PAGE FOR UPDATED TIMES DURING THE COVID CRISIS.)
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 we close the website each week at midnight Monday. If we can’t take your call right away leave a detailed message about what you want and where your pickup location is. If you have paid with a credit card in the last 30 days we can re-bill the last card used, otherwise we’ll contact you to arrange payment. Remember, we cannot enter an order after we close each week at midnight Monday.
- Farm: 256-282-7889
- Email: [email protected]
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 running late and in danger of not arriving in time. Our phone number is 256-282-7889, please keep it with you! We will always get your message and will work to resolve problems right away. The most common problems are 1. someone chooses the wrong Pickup Location without realizing and 2. someone accidentally picks up the wrong box. In either case we can help you get your goods if you call us. Each pickup location also has our phone 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 so we can credit or replace in your next box. It’s not possible for us to replace or credit if you don’t tell us about a problem until weeks later. Please do not worry about calling too late or too early, we have an answering machine and we will get your message and we always respond.
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 about a problem on our end. We promise we won’t call unless necessary and we never, ever share your personal information with anyone. All of our Member Responsibilities are spelled out in our Terms and Conditions, click here to read the whole thing.
How are meat and dairy orders kept cold?
We now pack Meat and Dairy items inside your order box with cooler packs if necessary. If your Pickup site keeps the boxes in a walk-in we do not include a cooler pack. Note: Per USDA regulations small-scale producers can only handle frozen meats. We are not permitted to handle fresh (not frozen) meats.
Can I save my Credit Card numbers to make checkout easier?
Sorry, no. Our system does not have that function as a security protection. Your computer may be able to remember the numbers, check your settings for “Autofill”. Question: is this still true? I thought you had told me the new website would save payment information…
Can you just place my order for me each week so I don’t forget?
In a way, yes we can! We have recently added a 10-Week Pre-Ordered Farmer Pick option. As long as you want to get the same type of box delivered every week to the same Pickup Location for ten consecutive weeks you are all set. Sorry but we can’t manage everyone’s calendars so this will work for you only if you can pickup for ten weeks in a row, there is no way to switch the delivery on/off or change the box type from week to week! See the Farmer’s Pick order section for details.
Can I return my packaging for re-use?
We can reuse the boxes and cold packs, please flatten the boxes and return them to the pickup site. We will collect them the following week (or come see us at the market and return them there!) Other packaging such as bags or egg cartons cannot be re-used per Health Department regulations.