Nature's Harmony Farm Meat CSA

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Please read thoroughly before joining.

What is a "CSA?
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is a way for the food-buying public to enter into a relationship with a farm and to receive a share of the harvest. By making a financial commitment to a farm (usually the whole season, but in this case on a three or six-month basis), people become "members" (or "shareholders," or "subscribers") of the CSA.This effort represents a formal mechanism for more affordably supplying meats that are raised locally, ethically, sustainably, and humanely. Members receive monthly packages containing roasts, ground, chicken, chops, eggs and may order from additional listings if desired, such as sausage, premium and discounted cuts of meat.

What does it mean to be a member?: As a member, you will:

• be committed to a monthly package;

• be able to order a' la carte from our list of monthly offerings;

• receive 5% off any meat purchases on-farm;

• receive priority ranking for special products such as Christmas geese, heritage turkeys, and pastured ducks;

• earn right of first refusal on membership renewal for upcoming 3 and 6 month periods;

• receive priority registration on scheduled farm events; and,

• most importantly, be assured of continuous availability of product for your family instead of taking the risk that we may not have availability throughout the year.

So how is this different from my veggie box CSA?
Similar concept, but in practice, it is quite different. Dealing with meat is much more challenging. There are only a handful of meat CSAs in the whole country, and most of the other ones are just beef or maybe beef and lamb, or give you 30 pounds or so once a quarter.

The reason it is difficult is because we are breaking down whole animals and attempting to divide them up randomly but fairly. Your vegetable farmer can give everyone five zucchini; we cannot give everyone two pork chops —there aren't enough to go around. So we have to make decisions on the fly about who gets what, and not everyone will always be happy. (You know how in your veggie box sometimes you get too much kale? Well sometimes you get too much roast). We also can't just leave the boxes on someone's porch; the meat has to be frozen, for food-safety reasons, and someone needs to be available for pickup.

How does this differ from the Nature's Harmony Metropolitan Buying Club?
The Metropolitan Buying Club (MBC) is less formal. As we have product available, we send a newsletter out announcing availablity and a delivery to, say, Savannah. We take orders in advance, and if there are sufficient orders, we make a delivery. The CSA we are offering is much more structured, and you can be assured of availability of product before any product is offered via any other outlet. That means that the product we offer via farmer's markets and MBC's will take a secondary priority to the CSA. If you want to be sure you'll get naturally and humanely raised meat, this is the way to do it.

Can I specify which cuts I get?
No, we're sorry. We make every effort to distribute the cuts randomly and fairly, but as we discuss below, this is logistically challenging enough so that we can’t accommodate special requests. You are welcome to order on an á la carte basis based on availability.

Can I skip the pork/chicken/eggs and get double beef instead, etc?
No. (See above.)

Am I going to get stuck with chicken feet or a beef tongue?
No, but those items may be available "a la carte". We do not include offal or organ meats in the general shares, but we do sell tongue (beef and pork), feet, oxtail, etc., even whole pig's heads for making head cheese.

What's in a package?: Each month's share will usually be a mixture of whole chicken, a mix of ground and braising beef, pork and/or lamb cuts, including some ground beef and/or pork, and a dozen eggs. The composition will be different depending on what is seasonally available...that's the beauty of eating locally and in season. Monthly shares are pre-assembled at our farm to include a mix of  ground, stew and roast cuts and occasionally grilling cuts such as chops and sirloin steak. Chicken is included in the shares as whole birds.

Can you give me an example of what I will get in my “share” every month?
A typical 15 pound share will IDEALLY include a whole chicken (4 pounds), 1 pound of ground beef, 1 pound of cube steak, 1 pound of pork chops, 4-5 pounds of roasting cuts, a 3-4 pound beef brisket and a dozen eggs. The weight of the bag will vary within a half-pound of the 15-pound average (and does not include the eggs).

So, what does “ideally” mean?
We try to make sure that each bag has a mix of beef and pork in addition to the chicken, and that if you got one of the less expensive grilling cuts of beef that you receive one of the more expensive pork roasts or vice versa. But dividing up whole animals is an art, not a science and it will not always work out in everyone’s favor. The main reason that some cuts are expensive at the supermarket is because they come from a small portion of the animal, meaning there are less of them to go around. It is important to remember that this is great meat and therefore there are no “bad” cuts. Cooked properly, the non-steak, non-chop braising cuts can be equally delicious. In fact, we prefer them.

What about other locations, such as Savannah?
We've received a lot of interest from folks in Savannah, and we're eager to get there. For now, we have to view a line extending from Atlanta through Athens to Augusta as "ground zero", and we'll expand from there. There are two factors that limit how much meat we can offer; 1) the growth rate of the animals, and 2) the carrying capacity of our land. We can "ramp up" chicken and pork more quickly, but lamb takes longer and beef takes much longer. We will continue to expand our offering consistent with how animals reproduce, grow and how the organic matter of the land increases. For now, if you're in Savannah or other locations not serviced by our CSA, we'll attempt to get to you quarterly via a Metropolitan Buying Club.

Is the CSA cheaper than buying by the cut?
Not necessarily, but we hope so.  The primary goal of the CSA program is so that our customers can depend on a predictable supply of naturally raised and delicious meat.  In other words, they have guaranteed product.  It also allows us to plan our meat production schedule with more certainty in order to meet commitments to our members. However, it does not mean that meat will necessarily be cheaper. The logistics of planning, packing and delivering CSA orders are intensive, and we simply cannot scrutinize over every order to ensure that the value comes out to a certain dollar amount.  Prior CSA members know that we go to great lengths to provide a mix of species and cuts so that you may enjoy diversity from your CSA share.

Can I use my credit card to pay?

Yes, credit card payments are desired and required.

Cancellations and refunds

If you are unhappy with our CSA or unable to receive it for any reason - you may be able obtain a refund by finding someone to replace you / take over your CSA, or you may give us 90 days notice and we'll find a replacement for you. We are unable to give refunds directly.

What about....?
If your question is not answered here, email us here.

OK, I'm interested. How can I sign up?
Wonderful! Welcome to the family. Sign up below. No payment is due at this time, but will be due as soon as locations are chosen.

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