How to create a food consumption group

Although it is increasingly easier to find organic and local products, many people still feel the need to directly manage their own supply of fresh food they consume because they want to establish personal relationships with producers that go beyond a pure commercial relationship And because they want to recover and control the care and respect for the natural environment from which the food comes. In other words, they are not only buyers, they also want to act and exercise their right to responsible consumption of less industrialized foods and in the company of other people, in a group.

Reasons and benefits to organize a orgasnic, fresh  food Consumption Group to buy directly from farmers

- We eliminate or reduce to the maximum the intermediation that raise the price of the food of unnecessary form. In this way, the farmer receives a fair price, and consumers also pay a fair price.

 - We have the possibility to know directly the people who grow our food: the way they work, the problems that affect them, the different possibilities of collaboration between production and consumption ...

- We interact with other people from our closest environment, people from our neighborhood or town, strengthening ties between neighbors and enjoying healthy activities in company.

- We are able to maintain decent and sustainable forms of life: we maintain a lively and sustainable rural environment, close to the larger nuclei, and thus contribute to maintaining natural resources and territorial demographic balance.

- We can choose the quality and know the origin or origin of the fresh food that we consume

Recover local or local foods. Consuming food grown in the vicinity of our place of residence helps maintain a lively rural environment. In addition, by concentrating the destination of the purchases in a single destination and reducing the distances of transport we reduce the energy cost and the emissions and we obtain fresh foods.

Values and consumes seasonal foods. Consuming seasonal foods ensures that fruits and vegetables are fresh and harvested ripe. Therefore, they will be healthier and more tasty. Festive and seasonal products are not grown in the other hemisphere or in unsustainable greenhouses. Tomatoes and peppers, for example, are given in summer, and in winter, cabbages, leeks and foods that are well preserved since the summer, such as potatoes, onions or squash. Consuming fruits and vegetables of season does not imply that our food is little varied, because in each season of the year there are different fresh foods for the consumption.

 

How to create a organic Food Consumption Group?

Some recommendations to start creating a Consumer Group

Step 1. bring together a small group of people
An optimal number, to begin with, is usually to gather 10 households, although sometimes with 5 is enough. The size of the group should be set in relation to the minimum order that can make the purchase and distribution cost-effective, and also the ease of organizing. It is also important, for example, to consider the space available for receiving the products.

Step 2. Agree on the general way of buying and managing the consumption group.
Sometimes the farmers will suggest how to organize the orders. Others will wait for your instructions.
Questions to be resolved before organizing

Frequency How often do you want to receive food?
Delivery How are you going to organize the distribution between the different houses?
Collections and payments How, who and when is managed the money of the consumers of the group.
Communication and order confirmation Who communicates with the producers?
Quality and certification of production Do you all want organic farming exclusively (with certification), or do you also accept conventional conventional foods if the producer offers you other quality guarantees on the farm and the forms of production that are used?
Step 3. Search for producers
Look for producers in your area. For this you can talk to other consumer groups that you know, with associations of ecological farmers in your area, with environmental groups and sustainable consumption and look in the directories of producers involved in short sale (CCC) or direct sale to the consumer , With oagroboca.com. Qu epone in direct contact with producers and final customers, consumers and professionals.

Normally, consumption groups start consuming fresh and seasonal fruits and vegetables, which are consumed more daily, and later also seek other organic producers such as bread, oil, eggs, vegetables, yogurt, cheese ...

Step 4. Avoid confusion and agree in advance the system of ordering, distribution and payment.
- Reception and distribution. First you have to be clear where the food is received and when is the day and time of delivery to each house
- Request. How (by Internet, by phone ...) and when and how far in advance you will make the orders to organize the purchase
- Payments (in hand, by transfer ...) and when (to the week, to the month, ...)

Step 5. Write a sharing procedure document that includes at least these steps
- Deadline for shipment
- Term of internal orders to account for the kilos and types of products to buy
- Day of reception of the products and those responsible for receiving and preparing deliveries
- Deliveries to the house in case it exists. Some groups meet at a point to deliver to families
- Agreed collection of products for new purchases
- Quality control and search for new producers. We do not always like the ones we buy or produce all we need in the same farm. The ideal is to have several producers and combine their crops. One poyede to provide eggs and carrots, and other fruits and vegetables, for example

 

Some forms of organization of the Consumption Groups

Different ways of organizing orders in a Consumer Group

1. BY ORDER
Each consumer makes a different order each week, choosing from the seasonal crops that can be harvested, depending on the prices agreed for the whole season with the farmer.

2. FIXED BASKET SYSTEM
The farmer produces a basket each week with the available foods recommended by the producer. The quantity of food and the price are usually predetermined between producer and consumers, and remain fixed each season.
This saves us having to place orders every week and allows the farmer to plan the crops well.

3. UNIT COOPERATIVE SYSTEM
Loss consumers pay a fixed fee per month, which is enough to sustain a part (or all) of the crop costs, including income for the farmer. In return, they receive a portion of what is harvested in proportion to what they have contributed.
This way we save the orders and facilitate the planning, and we also share the risks of agricultural production with the farmer, from which we become, in some way, partners. We can directly contact different farmers, or try to organize them if they are not so that distribution and cooperation among all can be easier.

Extracted and adapted from Ecologistas en Acción

 

Free online tools for Food Consumption Groups
Agroboca promotes Short Circuits through its platform and has tools in development so that consumer groups can organize in the nuve their own group of users and determining their form of organization. In this way, we can locate the producers, order online, receive their offers and help them to organize the preparation and delivery of the different orders. In addition, it is possible to sell from the exponent of the minimum orders demanded by producers, other users, whether or not members of each consumption group.

If you want to create a food consuption group we encourage you as a first step to create your own basic store in agroboca.com. From them you can buy the farmers of the platform, have a catalog of products, with assorted boxes or  bulk products or packages, ckeckout page and contact page. If what you need is a page with user management and subscription boxes we will also be able to help you. Use our contact form

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