Question: How would you expand or complement this project? Farm to Work (FTW) is a program wherein area farmers are paired up with urban worksites to
How would you expand or complement this project?
Farm to Work (FTW) is a program wherein area farmers are paired up with urban worksites to make weekly deliveries (or bi-weekly depending on the demand of the site) of fresh boxes of their produce to site employees (as well as students in the case of University partner sites) that choose to order for that delivery. It is much like a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model wherein each box contains a set variety of items, yet there is no commitment for participants to purchase a box of produce the option to purchase is simply made available to them on a weekly or biweekly basis. Anyone can express interest in having the program at their workplace by filling out a brief inquiry at www.farmtowork.org, and the vetting process continues from there. SFC is currently operating this program in the greater Austin area as well as some sites in San Antonio and Houston. For each viable worksite, SFC goes through an onboarding process to train one or more dedicated volunteers at the worksite to assist as site Coordinators, then matches each worksite up with one of SFCs partner farmers. SFC facilitates program level communications between the worksites and the farmers and manages the website interface and financial transactions for all parties. To be a viable participant in the program, worksites must have an onsite coordinator able to facilitate communications between SFC and their farmer to their site participants, as well as coordinate produce deliveries from the farmer and pickups by customers. Site Coordinators often seek additional volunteers to assist with these tasks. Anyone at the worksites can sign up to receive Order Reminders days before the next delivery, which tells participants what items are expected to be in the box that week. If the site Coordinator is able to assist in promoting the program at their site beyond SFCs automatic Order Reminders, this has proven to increase awareness of and participation in the program which makes the program more successful and sustainable long-term for the site. The produce provided in each Farm to Work box is a variety of 6-9 different seasonal vegetables and occasional fruits. The box contents change at least partially every week and are what is able to be locally grown in that season at the time. Contents between boxes are the same each delivery week, though some farmers provide trade boxes where customers can trade an item they do not want for something they would prefer. Customers are also encouraged to share their box with a friend or colleague if it seems to be too much produce for one person or family. The price of a box of produce is set by the farmer and is between $20 - $25/each. The idea is that the quantity and variety of produce included in the box would add up to the cost of the FTW box, if not more, if purchased at a local Farmers Market, and the delivery is free. The produce is farm fresh harvested day of or the day before delivery. The program is sustainable if the worksite can sustain a consistent level of orders per delivery typically 10 orders minimum. Each farmer sets the order minimum necessary for deliveries to be economically sustainable for them since there is no delivery fee being charged. When the orders do not meet the necessary minimum, SFC must rearrange and/or refund orders and the farmers schedule must be adjusted.
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