Area coordinators are an important part of our CSA service.  The area coordinator (AC) acts as our community liaison and wears multiple hats.  We rely on them to help us spread the word about the good work that Know Your Farms does in the Charlotte community and encourage people to join our efforts to save what is left of our local agriculture.  Every CSA membership counts!  ACs also help us distribute food to neighborhoods – home delivery and central meeting points.  And ACs also capture critical feedback that helps us provide the highest level of customer service and respond quickly to good suggestions and ways to improve.  So, let’s sum up the three critical functions of the AC!

• Access key people to grow CSA members – help build support for Know Your Farms
• Coordinate and deliver  CSA shares to your area members
• Expect the best!  Gather feedback and ideas from area members and community leaders

 

 

 

Fill out the area coordinator application online or contact us if you are interested.

So what do you get for doing all this great work?  We offer a generous return on your time investment with Know Your Farms.  Our ACs get a small produce share once their areas meet the minimum membership goal and deliveries start.  The minimum delivery requirement is determined on an individual basis and we factor in things like distance from our existing routes, ease of access, proximity to our other stops, population density, and area support for local food.  The minimum for an area close to our routes is typically 10 memberships for example.  Even if your area remains at 10, you still get the produce share each delivery.

Now for the really cool stuff.  Starting 2013, we offering the equivalent of $1 in store credit for each share over the minimum we deliver in your area that you help recruit!  That means, that if you had 20 members in your area and your minimum was 10, you’d earn $10 in store credits every week!  That is on top of your produce share.  Your store credits can be used to purchase anything we offer through our online store.  There is no cap on how many credits you can earn.  The one catch is that they have to be used by the end of the year and will not rollover.   

Drop sites are a good way to help us make an impact on the Charlotte area and help us save family farmers.  We explain the difference in drop site definitions that we use here.  You can help us by opening up your small business space, church, school, neighborhood, or workplace to our service.   The great thing about being a drop site is that you get some free publicity from us with little cost to you or your organization.  You also get associated with a great, sustainable service with a really community-focused mission.  We need your help to secure our local food supply.

 Please fill out the drop site application form or contact us if you are interested.   

Volunteers mean a great deal to KYF and we rely on this group for different things.  We are always in need of support for the CSA operations, especially drop site management.  In 2013, we would like to find some volunteers who can also help us with general business functions.  If you want to help a growing, dynamic, and really fun group become a better organization, then please get in touch!  We would like to open our business up to those with a passion for local food and business.  Professional and business skills are highly desirable.  Creative and journalism skillsets are also something we would like to see.  

Apprentice.  That’s right.  We are going to begin offering internships and apprenticeships to those who are REALLY interested in local food systems, CSAs, farming (supply side/marketing rather than growing), and small-scale distribution.  At this time we are looking for a few people who will be the first to take us up on this offer.  KYF is not only a farm advocate, it is a resource for local food systems and food procurement education.  We want to share what we have learned over the years to help build a more knowledgeable food system workforce.