why our members love us
- support the local economy and small businesses
- are invested in organic & sustainable agriculture
- support seasonal eating
- strive for zero waste
- provide exceptionally fresh produce to our communities
- are responsive to member needs & requests
- provide recipes & guidance for cooking, prep and storage
To help our members get the most out of the FDC, we’ve put together the “Member Handbook.”
Member Handbook
Welcome to Farm Direct Coop!
We are a 900 + member strong cooperative committed to our farmers as well as to delivering the highest quality, local food to you, our members. The member handbook provides the information necessary to have a better experience as a member of the FDC. Even if you are a seasoned veteran, you will likely learn something new.
You can also visit our FAQ below to find answers to your questions, fast
Farm Direct Coop is a Cooperative.
We collectively use our food dollars to directly support local growers and consequently local farmland. Farmers appreciate having a known, reliable market for their produce. Since we are a relatively large coop, we have collective buying power to ensure we get the best prices for the food we buy, while at the same time making sure our growers are fairly compensated. Relationships with growers are paramount to the core values of the organization and the success of the coop..
- You will receive the freshest, local food possible. FDC produce doesn’t have the travel time of grocery store goods and is sometimes even picked the day we receive it.
- We share risk with our growers.
- You will likely be exposed to some fruits and vegetables to which you might be unfamiliar – we will guide you!
- Show up with your spirit of adventure! You are helping farmers, you will try new things, and you will meet new people with whom to share ideas and recipes.
Please read the newsletter!
- Weekly news lands in your email inbox the night before pick up. (If you are not receiving this email, please let us know.)
- Each newsletter includes multiple recipes, usage guides and storage tips for that week’s share as well as area happenings, farm stories, links to other like-minded sites.
- The news acts as a pick-up reminder as well as a helpful meal planner.
- Check out earlier copies in the newsletter Archive.
- Our Facebook group is another great way to stay in the loop, and to share ideas with other members.
- Like us? Let us know on our FaceBook page
- *When you send us email, please sign off with share name, depot & day – like this: “Julie Pottier-Brown, Marblehead, Tuesday.”
Everyone is (expected/strongly encouraged/dare we say – required) to volunteer at least two hours during the season. We really need your help to pull off what we do on a weekly basis. We charge an up front fee to opt out of volunteering ($38) we use that money to hire more staff, but really, we need and want your help. When your two hours are complete, email your depot coordinator. Your $38 will be refunded on your account and can be used to pay off a share or special orders.
- Volunteering helps members better understand how FDC works.
- Each 2 hours volunteered gets your name entered into a raffle for a free December Share ($100 value).
- Volunteers have a greater appreciation for the coop, and consequently a better experience.
- Sign up to volunteer at the Marblehead, Salem or Melrose Depot locations—just fill out the forms with your availability!
- Visit our Volunteer page for a complete list of ways to volunteer.
Once you’ve signed up for the FDC, you will have a Local Food Marketplace account.
Your log-in will be the email you provided when you signed up, and your password will be created on your first log in. This password can be changed, if you wish.
You may check what subscription you have signed up for, order weekly extras and special orders, put shares on hold, or make payments. (though we prefer checks – more on that later).
- Stop at the table first to Sign Next to Your Name: We count on members to let us know your share has been collected.
- My Name is Highlighted – why? When we have a special order for you, need to ask a question, or have an answer to a previous question, we will highlight your name. Highlighted names are an indication we need to talk to you. Please seek out your coordinator.
- What Shares Do I Have? The codes next to your name are shorthand for your share types. We can decipher them for you.
- Special Shares: If you have a regular bread, cheese, flower, egg, or mushroom share, you’ll find your items in the Specialty Shares tent. If you have a Whole Grain Bread Share, or ordered a Pantry Box, those will be handed over at the admin tent.
- Large & Small Organic Veg are in separate areas and the Large & Small Fruit Shares are on separate tables. Please mind you are taking your share from the correct tent/table.
- Special Orders (your name will be highlighted!) to collect general store items, add on produce, cheese, bread, etc., seek out a coordinator. Your items will be behind the admin area.
- *Weigh carefully, we buy just enough for everyone. We will run short at the end of the day if several people over-weigh by just a few ounces. If you can’t weigh the proffered amount exactly – please err on the side of just under the amount rather than just over.
- *PLEASE don’t pick through the produce – that peach you squeezed and rejected is going to have to go home with someone else! As a cooperative, we only buy enough produce to satisfy everyone’s order, so nothing can go to waste from over handling.
- *Watch your kids. We love kids (for real) and they are welcome to help. Be aware of other members and make sure your little ones are not running amuck through the depot. Busy moments are not the best time for a lesson on weights and measures. (Little hands also need to understand that scales can’t be played with like toys, and that the fruit tables are not to be confused with a snack bar.)
- *Ask before lifting produce from under the tables. The depot coordinator may have a different plan, or need to reserve what is under there for latecomers.
- *Boxes and Bags: Please bring a box, bag or basket to the depot in which to collect your share. If you have a nice collection of clean grocery bags, please donate to your depot. As each of our communities have banned single-use plastic bags, the availability of these is lessened at the depot. There will occasionally be loose baby greens, consider bringing a plastic clamshell container, or reusable mesh bags for produce.
There are two key concepts you need to understand to smoothly navigate the billing system; PAYMENT PLANS & PAYMENT METHODS. Read on for an as-concise-as-possible tutorial along with info about where to find this key information in your account.
PAYMENT PLANS
The two options for payment plans are Single Payment and Pay-By-Order. For each of your subscriptions, you picked one or the other. If you don’t remember what you picked, that’s okay – we’ll show you how to find that info in a minute.
Single Payment Subscriptions are due in full by April 15th. There are two exceptions to that due date – Thanksgiving and December Shares. If you prefer, you can hold off on paying those until November 1.
Pay-By-Order Subscriptions land in your shopping cart each Friday afternoon June – October. They won’t show as an amount due until then.
PAYMENT METHODS
We accept paper checks, eChecks and credit cards. If you are able, we prefer checks or eChecks because the credit card merchant fees are murderous. Last year we spent over FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS on merchant fees, and credit card fees represent a disproportionate part of that total. eChecks are much less painful with the fees, and paper checks are free to process.
Farm Direct Coop
PO Box 1146
Marblehead, MA 01945
Preferred Payment Method:
This is your default payment method. Your weekly orders, and any special orders you make, will default to this selection. You can change the payment method on individual orders if you prefer.
On your Account Information Tab, you selected the Preferred Payment Method listed above. If your preferred payment method is set to either eCheck or Credit Card, we’ll charge your bank account or CC the amount due for orders or subscriptions on the due date.
For example, if all of your subscriptions are set to Single Payment, and your Preferred Payment Method is set to eCheck, on April 15 you will be charged for your full season balance. If your Preferred Payment Method is set to check, please just make sure you get one to us by April 15th.
WHERE do i find THIS STUFF ON MY ACCOUNT?
You can log into your account HERE at https://farmdirectcoop.localfoodmarketplace.com/.
Once there, click My Account, then click Subscriptions on the left sidebar menu.
You will see all the subscriptions you’re signed up for, the pickup day & location, the payment plan and the amount due.
In the upper left, there is a green Pay Unpaid Subscriptions button, which allows you to pay the full balance rather than paying each subscription individually.
From here, you can click Account Information on that left sidebar menu to see your Preferred Payment Method setting. You are welcome to change this at any time.
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Members may also choose to preload their accounts, such that weekly charges draw from a surplus Credit on Account. This is achieved by either sending a check, or logging into your account and clicking My Account > Account Activity > Add Funds.
Community Aid: We offer financial assistance to those in need via or Community Aid Fund. Aid is funded by members for members. You can find the application on this website
Plug our phone number (877-FDC-FARM/332-3276) into your phone AND your coordinator’s phone number so you can call or text us from the road if need be. AVOID Just hitting reply to a mass email or posting on Facebook group. We may not get your call in time. If you are emailing us – Please include your full name, depot day and location on all correspondence.
For:
Deliveries, after hours pick-ups, and questions about volunteering, contact your coordinator directly. Facebook is not a reliable way to get in touch on depot day.
Billing and account information, contact Tamara.
Special orders, contact Julie.
General questions, contact Julie or Tamara (after checking the website).
Newsletter submissions and inquiries, contact Jennifer
*If you are trying to contact us by telephone, please note that voice messages are directed to our email accounts. If your call goes to voicemail on a depot day, PLEASE call back until you reach a live person. Voice mails may not be retrieved until after the depot has closed and the coordinators return home.
All emails are listed on the Contact Us page.
Additional Frequently Asked Questions
Deliveries may be scheduled during the weekend before you are set to pick up. If you need to schedule a delivery after 5:30 pm on Sunday please reach out to your depot coordinator.
To schedule your delivery using your LFM account, log in and look for the maroon banner at the top of your page. All the way to the right you’ll see a dropdown icon with a number. This number indicates the number of items in your shopping cart. These items can be your weekly shares or special orders you have added. Click that arrow and choose Edit Order. In the Distribution Information section to the left, click the For Delivery toggle and alter the pickup location to “ONE-TIME DELIVERY.” A $10 delivery fee will be added to your order. Email any particular directions regarding your delivery to your coordinator.
No, currently double make up shares are not available. You can use your Vacation Hold account credit to purchase add-ons on any pickup day you’d like to receive extra produce.
Yes! If you know in advance that you are going to miss, you may send a friend to pick up your share. Please make sure they check in with the depot coordinator. Well intentioned substitute share gatherers often forget to sign out and may take the wrong things because they don’t know the procedure.
Requests to alter your pickup day need to be submitted by Saturday night at midnight the weekend before the change.
All members add the volunteer opt-out subscription to their account & pay the fee up front. When a 2 hour volunteer effort is completed, we cancel the subscription. Any money paid in goes back to your account.
Every 2 hour shift gets an entry into a drawing for a free December Share.
Please follow this link to our Volunteering page for links to sign up for depot shifts and all the details about other ways to volunteer.
The office is located at 128 Margin Street, Salem. If you need to go there to pick something up or wish to shop our shelves, please let us know and we’ll be happy to meet you there. We do not keep regular office hours.
FDC, Post Office Box 1146, Marblehead, MA, 01945
We offer leftovers to co-op members first. You can make up for a missed week this way by coming at the very end of the depot hours. Anything remaining goes to: The Councils on Aging in Marblehead and Salem, Bread of Life, Malden, The Food Drive, Melrose, Lifebridge meals in Salem, the Daily Table, Salem and individual families in need. So if you miss your share, know at least that it was not wasted. WE CANNOT GIVE REFUNDS FOR MISSED WEEKS.
The fee ($45-$55) goes directly to cover costs of maintaining our organization – office space, labor, supplies and printing, trucking, infrastructure and insurance. The membership fee does not fully cover the expenses connected with running this organization. It is an important part of our Co-op.
The fruit share works differently than the veg share. There tends to be only 1 item available at a time in the early part of the season. Strawberries, then blueberries, maybe raspberries or other berries for June & July. When one fruit is *just* beginning, we may not be able to procure more than 1 portion of that item per fruit share. Also, the large fruit share is not double the size of the small, but rather 2/3 the size, so the shares are often close in size. The fruit share works on an average over the season, and large shares get their due by the end of five months.
- Organic Bunched Greens (chard, kale) – $2.75-3.75/bunch.
- IPM or Organic Tomatoes – $3.00 to $6.00/lb.
- Organic Zucchini – $2.75/lb Organic Eggplant – $4/lb
- IPM Apples – $1.75 – 2.75/lb
- Organic Watermelon – $7-$8 each
- IPM raspberries – $6/ half pint
Thanksgiving Share – Pick up a full box of “all the things you will buy for Thanksgiving anyway” one week before Thanksgiving at your regular depot. The share is a great value of approximately 25lbs of mostly organic produce. We typically offer carrots, potatoes, squash, onions, cabbages, sweet potatoes, parsnips, apples, cranberries, cheese and more—it’s a great way to get your Thanksgiving goodies and stock up for winter, while supporting local farmers.
Bulk Order – Members have the opportunity to stock up on produce, grain, meat & more for storage or processing to keep over the fall and winter. This option has grown in popularity over the years and now has its own pick-up day.
December Share – The festive and bountiful December Share will be delivered to your depot the first week in December. That single large pick-up offers a final hurrah from every share type: bread, mushrooms, a wedge of cheese, an herb, and lots of veggies and apples. Add-ons for gifting or keeping, include holiday wreaths, chocolate, soaps, beeswax candles and much more.
February Share – It’s surprising how much local food is still available at this time of year! Storage crops like squash, potatoes & apples will make an appearance, as well as fresh cut greens, microgreens & herbs if the greenhouses behave well. We can offer add-ons to those who do not want a whole share or want more of a particular item. Just carrots & apples? Sure, we can do that. Box is approximately 25lbs.
Even though you pay for your share ahead of time, we often negotiate and strike agreements weekly, based on scarcity and abundance. Our primary farm sets prices annually so we know what to expect each year. We are responsible for being good stewards of your share costs, and believe we get a good return on investment. Beautiful, organic, local food at hard to match affordability. An example of 2022 weekly prices:
- Small Vegetable Share – Average $15.75
- Large Vegetable Share – Average $23.50
- Small Fruit Share – Average $10.50
- Large Fruit Share – Average $14.50
- Mushrooms Share – Average $5.65
- Flowers Share – Average $10.00
- Cheese – Each wedge has it’s own price/cost avg. $8
- Bread Share – Averages $5.50 per week
FDC NEWSLETTER:
- Every member is signed up for our newsletters automatically.
- You will receive a newsletter the night before a pickup, and at least once before that to allow you to order whatever extra items are available.
- You can find our most Recent FDC Newsletters here.
