If the grain bundle is something that you’re interested in, but you’re not sure if you can afford it, we want to do everything possible to make local food available to you. We know that healthy eating has it’s own barriers, and hopefully this can help to keep financial considerations out of the way.
Our pricing is always based on the cost that we pay to farmers for each product, adding on our time/labour for cleaning/milling/packaging, and a little bit extra to pay for repairs, utilities, etc. We do everything we can to keep these costs within market norms, and usually better! Small scale organic processing can be expensive because it’s more labour intensive, but these expenses are moderated by the fact that we are cutting out brokers, distributors, and transportation along so many steps of the food system. But organic food is sometimes entirely out of reach, and we want to help bridge that gap.
There are a few different options that we can offer.
- We are always happy to accommodate deferred payment. Sending a few post-dated cheques or making e-transfers spread out over a few months is always fine, just write a note with your order explaining what your payment schedule will look like. We suggest ensuring that half the bundle is paid before the pick-up day, but feel free to email if you have a different schedule that would work for you.
2. We will have 20 shares that are available below cost ($225 instead of the regular $275) for individuals who are facing financial hardship. At the checkout page, there is a link at the top of the page to submit a coupon code. Use the coupon code “slidingscale50” to access this pricing.
3. We will also have 15 shares that are available at nearly-half-price ($175 instead of the regular $275). We don’t want to turn anyone away from accessing the very best food! At the checkout page, there is a link at the top of the page to submit a coupon code. Use the coupon code “slidingscale100” to access this pricing.
These coupons can be applied to any of our CSA options – the full sized, gluten free, or mini-bundles.
For both of our reduced-price options, we are not asking you to verify income or show proof of need. We simply ask that you consider for yourself what pricing best reflects your situation. We recognize that need is not always reflected simply by income, and that there are a lot of factors that play into privilege and need. In trying to synthesize these thoughts, I came up with the questions in the graphic below, although I know that some things will be missing, this seems like a good place to start. I based the graphic on the works of others, including Zengerfarm, Alexis. J Cunningfolk, and many long conversations with Kris from Cityfolk Farm.
The Sliding Scale Pricing is certainly a strange way of doing things. If you have questions please don’t hesitate to reach out. Or if you are in position to help support our ambitions to make local food more widely available, we happily accept donations towards expanding this initiative (here).