example CSA - Norwich Farmshare (Norwich Community Agriculture)

This seems to be one of the best systems, you join as a member, according to your veg needs or commitment, add in extras like fruit and eggs, and set up a monthly payment.

In this case the veg either gets delivered each week to their associate bike store in Norwich and is collected from there (central pick-up point) or collected from the farm itself.  The 'share' is fixed in that you can't cancel.

The minimum is £18.50 a month which seems very reasonable to me. They also have a supporters membership at £2 a month for people who like the idea but not committed to the veg.

It seems a good model and is probably one of the best ways to ensure direct involvement in the farm and a commitment by the people involved.

I particularly like their returns to the members as they seem favourable and a good incentive to sign up. Their 'profit' seems to be returned direct to those that commit and get involved. The work demands are pretty minimal at 3x 3 hour shifts on the growing or picking in an entire year, or only about 10 minutes a week.

http://norwichfarmshare.co.uk/

How it works

Joining Norwich FarmShare isn’t just about buying vegetables. We’re a community of people from Norwich and the surrounding area working together to think differently about our food.
Being a member gets you more than your vegetables. We give you a say in how your food is grown. You’ll be invited to our social events and asked to join us for our workdays on the farm. You get to try the delicious recipes we find for you- and tell us about your favourites too. You can learn new skills or get a chance to get your hands dirty if you don’t have space to grow at home. If you’ve got children, you can teach them first-hand where their food comes from.

• Our delicious seasonal food is harvested each week at our farm at Postwick
• The harvest is delivered on the day it’s picked to the FarmShare Food Hub at Bicycle Links in St Mary’s Works.
• We offer three sizes of vegetable share, to suit any size of household.
• Members come to the Food Hub to weigh out their weekly share, and get the chance to meet other like-minded membes of the community for a chat.

You can join at any time and leave at any time- but our members who’ve been with us for more than a year tell us it’s really special to see how the crops change over the course of a year, from the glorious gluts of summer to the pinch of the hungry gap in April and May. This means that you’ll get different amounts of different types of veg all through the year – and we work carefully with other local growers to make sure you’ll always have a good selection in your share.

Helping with the work

Our growers Mel and Christophe are supported by volunteers. There’s always lots to do on the farm and we need plenty of willing hands.
As a community supported agriculture scheme we ask that, for each vegetable share taken up, you also contribute nine hours of work throughout the year. You can do your shifts either by helping out on the farm Wednesday afternoons between 1pm and 4pm (April-October), helping with the harvest Thursdays 10am-1pm (all year round) or come to any of our work days throughout the year. If physical work on the farm is difficult for you, we can offer other opportunities; just let us know and we’ll see what we can sort out.

Membership

Our share members receive a weekly share of vegetables from our farm at Postwick – and from local and organic farmers during the winter and hungry gap; alongside all the other great things that come with being a member of a community-owned farm. To join us, please complete the form below. If you have any questions call us on 0845 6805721 or send us a message.
We also welcome supporter members, who can participate in our social events and work days but don’t receive a vegetable share. You can choose supporter membership on its own in the options below.
Please note that share members must also be supporter members.

1. Begin a regular order or choose a trial

2. Select your membership type and share

Qty	Type	Price
	Supporter membership (required)	£2.00 / month £1 concessions
	Large veg share (weekly veg for 4-5 people)	£53.50 / month
	Standard veg share (weekly veg for 2-3 people)	£37.00 / month
	Small veg share (weekly veg for 1 person)	£18.50 / month

All shares must be collected weekly from our new food hub at Bicycle Links, 18 St Mary's Works, Duke Street, Norwich NR3 1QA between 4.00 and 6.30pm every Thursday - see map and directions.
Our prices allow for holidays and no refunds are given if you are away - why not encourage a friend to pick up and enjoy your veg?

3. Add a FruitShare

Qty	Type	Price
	Standard FruitShare (weekly fruit for 2 people)	£25.50 / month

We're currently offering a £6 per week share, other sizes may be added according to demand. You can add a FruitShare at any time.
Unlike our vegetable shares, where members pay 12 instalments for a share in the annual harvest, the fruit works week by week: hence calendar month payments of £25.50. If you leave before receiving fruit for 51 weeks in any given membership year we will refund the small surplus in your account.
For more information about the FruitShare, including where the fruit is from and how the scheme works, please see this post.

3. How about some eggs?

Qty	Type	Price
	Large EggShare (a dozen eggs each week)	£10.83 / month
	Standard EggShare (half-dozen eggs each week)	£5.63 / month

The eggs work out at £1.30 per half-dozen or £2.50 for a dozen, if you're wondering. 52 calendar weeks divided into monthly payments give the prices shown above.
The eggs are locally sourced, free-range and high-welfare.

4. Payment confirmation

We can only take payment by standing order. Please make sure your payment gets to us by the 1st of the month. You can join at any time of the month- we can invoice you for the extra weeks separately.  I confirm that I will pay by standing order

Please see below for details of how to pay by standing order (we'll email these to you as well).

5. Helping with the work

As a community supported agriculture scheme we ask that, for each vegetable share taken up, you also contribute at least three 3-hour work shifts throughout the subscription year.
 I understand that I am strongly encouraged to contribute work shifts
(Supporter members are not required to contribute work shifts.)