CSA Economics:  Community supported agriculture is a relationship between eaters and farmers based on mutual respect and interdependence.  Under the CSA model, shareholders pay in advance for the food they will receive, reflecting both the risks that the farm takes to cultivate crops and husband livestock for food.

Becoming a CSA shareholder means that you pledge to support our farm in its operations by pre-paying a fee in exchange for a share of the harvest.  Depending on your share, your subscription with Ecotone Farm is a contract to receive a minimum of delivery of food.  Annual shares are for one year, or 12 months, while seasonal shares include deliveries covering half a year, or 6 months.  

Payments:  We use a web-based software program called Farmigo to help manage the financial interactions between the farm and its eaters.  With it, Ecotone Farm shareholders and customers have online access to their own accounts.  We accept payment via credit/debit cards, electronic check, and old-fashioned check.  

Cooler Deposits – To join Ecotone’s CSA, we ask for an initial deposit to cover the coolers used for delivery.  This deposit is fully-refundable at the end of your CSA deliveries, if you’re not going to continue with the farm.  The cooler deposit for the Endless Egg Basket is $25, while all other meat CSA shares require a cooler deposit of $50.  Please mail your deposits to Ecotone Farm, 6806 Clarksville Pike, Joelton, TN 37080.  Make checks payable to Ecotone Farm.  We will follow-up with you regarding the cooler deposit fee.  

Autopay Option:  If you are unable to pay for your annual or seasonal share upfront, we ask our shareholders to sign up for automatic payment options that will pay your account in a timely, fashion so that you never miss a delivery.  You will receive an email prior to the charge being made.  If you choose the autopay option, your account will automatically be charged again any time the balance falls below $0.00, and you will receive an email notification.  If not, you will receive an email when your account has one more delivery on it.  Your account will only be charged by the delivery for each box you receive.

Communication:  By becoming a shareholder in Ecotone Farm, you are also agreeing to open and read email communications from us.  All billing issues regarding your account will be emailed to you, including start ups and notice of suspension of service.  You may also receive specific emails announcing important changes to our farm and its offerings.  Especially important are emergency site moves or short-term delivery messages.  Please read our emails as soon as you see them.  Please add our email addresses to your address book to protect our communications from spam filters.  

Feedback:  We encourage shareholders to give us feedback about box quality and contents by emailing us at farmers@ecotonefarm.com.  It's very important that you include your full name, and the email address login that you used to create your online account, on all correspondence.

Suspension:  Your box will not be delivered if you do not have money in your account to cover the price of the box.  If we don't receive a timely payment from you, you will receive an email letting you know that your service has been suspended.  If you make a payment after this time, you need to wait for email notification of your next delivery.   Restarting your box delivery often takes seven days, as the lists are made in advance, so don't expect a box that week unless you get an email saying it will be there.  If you do not get a box, there will be no charge for delivery that week.  If your membership becomes inactive, your balance may be refunded and the account closed after a few months.  Restarting is as easy as joining, just follow the same link.

Cancellation and Credit:  To cancel your CSA share with Ecotone Farm, email farmers@ecotonefarm.com.  Please understand that in the CSA model we’re depending on you to invest in the farm that is producing your food.  We are not a grocery store, nor do we raise much over and above what we sell in the way of CSA shares.  We offer an online market for those who do not wish to make a seasonal and/or annual commitment to the farm.  If you believe you deserve a credit for poor quality, damaged, or otherwise unusable food, please contact us and we will evaluate cases on an individual basis.  

In short, we’re all in this thing together, for better or worse, for the duration of your share.  We look forward to getting to know you, and providing you with fresh, healthful foods raised in a responsible manner. If you find something is not to your liking, just let us know. We’ll work it out together.  

Thank you for your support.