Still Got Questions?
Here are some frequently asked questions:
- Our Market Guidelines
- Are there membership fees?
- Why Support Locally Grown?
- Will I have to buy vegetables I don't want?
- So there's no minimum order amount?
- How do I order?
- Can I get home delivery?
- When do I pay?
- When and Where do I pick up my order?
- What happen's when I come to pick up my order?
- Oh no! I forgot to pickup my order! Now what?
- How can I sell through this market?
- If I sell a product on this market that requires state tax to be collected, Who is responsible for collecting the tax?
And here are some answers:
Our Market Guidelines
The Ozark Locally Grown Market supports the growth and sustainability of local growers. We support the idea of a sustainable and productive food system, by promoting locally produced foods and we believe in providing an opportunity for small to mid sized growers to have an opportunity to offer their products to our community through this market.
The Ozark Locally Grown Market is just that, a community market with the emphasis on knowing your farmer and knowing how your food is grown. Each grower/member of our market also becomes a member of our local food community and we encourage growers and buyers to build relationships.
The Ozark Locally Grown Market encourages sustainability and organic methods of growing, but we do not restrict our grower members to those practices. What we do require is a level of transparency that provides the consumer with information on how the produce and products were grown or raised.
Any Grower wanting to sell value added products must show that they have complied with state and local health and food safety standards.
This market focuses on direct sales from grower/producer to consumer and is in strong support of buying fresh, buying local. There is always that exception where certain products, that may not be in season, or just not grown in our area will be available from ‘non local’ sources and brought into our area, such as sweet mangoes and papayas for example. This will be allowed as long as the products are not available to us in our area and we will require the same transparency in providing information on the grower and how they were grown.
Are there membership fees?
To help us provide farm tours, educational programs, and to help us with our overhead costs, we ask that you pay an annual fee of $25 per household per calendar year. You are welcome to try us for two orders before officially becoming members.
Why Support Locally Grown?
Exceptional taste and freshness: Local food is fresher and tastes better than food shipped long distances from other states or counties.
Enhance your local economy: By purchasing produce and other items from local growers you are providing stability to your local economy through the support of local businesses.
Save natural resources: Buying locally makes you an invaluable link in the process of saving resources such as fossil fuels and packaging materials. Also, we are right here in your community so the expense of transportation and delivery is kept to a minimum.
Provide learning opportunities: Locally Grown supporters provide member growers the means to help educate our community about the importance of sustainable agriculture.
Supporting a way of life: The number of small farms in the United States has decreased dramatically in the last decade. Please help us preserve an honest and worthy means of making a living.
We believe that small, diverse, family-owned farms contribute to society’s overall health.
Will I have to buy vegetables I don't want?
Unlike some co-ops, buying clubs, or CSAs where everyone gets the same box of stuff (and you don’t know what you’re getting until you get it), with Locally Grown you get to order what you want, in the quantities that you want, from the farms that you want. The weekly email lists the produce, products, fresh flowers, and artisan goods available that week, and you can browse the items on this website before you place your order.
So there's no minimum order amount?
Nope. Order as much or as little as you want, from the farms that you want.
How do I order?
Each Friday evening, a list of available products is sent to all of our registered customers by e-mail. Customers must place their order for the week no later than Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. Orders can be placed here on our website. Ordering through this web site is our preferred method as it is designed to reduce the amount of time it takes us to process orders as well as provide you with detailed information about our products.
Can I get home delivery?
Yes, Ozark Locally Grown offers home delivery service on Fridays, for those of you who would prefer to have your order Delivered to your Front Door instead of picking it up. Delivery is FREE on all Orders over $25.00, within the City Limits of Mountain Home and Gassville, orders under that, there is a $4.50 charge. For anything outside this area, you will need to contact us for a special quote on the Delivery Charge. We will call you on Thursday, to setup your Delivery time on Friday. Deliveries are made from 8:00am until 7:00pm. If you will not be home during the delivery window on Fridays, you will be required to leave a cooler in a predetermined spot at your home. Tips are encouraged, but not required.
When do I pay?
We accept Cash – Checks – Debit & Credit Cards (Visa or Mastercard). You can make advance payment on the website, or when you pick up your order or when it is deivered.
When and Where do I pick up my order?
“MARKET PICKUP DAY” is on Fridays; you will be able to Pickup your orders from 1:00pm untill 3:30pm at our Mountain Home location and from 4:00pm until 6:00pm at our Gassville location.
What happen's when I come to pick up my order?
It’s a major effort to get all the produce together, organized, and then distributed back out to the customers. Imagine taking a full farmers’ market, spread out over a park or other location, and condensing it down to a single room — that’s what we do.
Oh no! I forgot to pickup my order! Now what?
Well, I’m sorry we missed you.
About a half hour before we pack up to go home, we’ll call you if you haven’t come yet, using the phone number you tied to your account. If you have a cell phone, use that number!
Most times, we get an answering machine, so if we haven’t reached you when it’s time to go, we’ll try again.
If we still haven’t been able to reach you, your items will be donated or given away!
If we were able to reach you on the phone, we may be able to work out an arrangement, or to deliver them to you on Friday, but otherwise your items will be donated or given away!
Since the growers harvested just for you, and (more importantly) since we’re paying the growers on your behalf for the orders brought to our market, you are still responsible for paying for the items, even if you do not pick them up. We’ll charge your account, and that amount will get added to your next order.
I do wish that I could be more flexible and accommodating for those who missed the window, but for legal reasons that we have to operate under, we never take possession of your orders. You are buying directly from the growers, who bring their items to our pickup location, and then you arrive to pick it all up. The volunteers and I are there to facilitate and orchestrate the process, but if we go beyond that then we fall under the category of food resellers and distributors, which means we’d need the same equipment you’d find at the grocery store: refrigerators with charting temperature recorders, hot and cold running water, freezers, stainless steel tables and fixtures, etc. In short… Ozark Locally Grown would cease to exist.
How can I sell through this market?
If you’ve already created a customer account here, simply go to Our Growers and click on ‘Join this Market’. This will add you to our system and our market manager will contact you with the next step.
You will also need to click on the Growers Quick Start Guide link, this will guide through your “Growers Application” and all the “Membership Information”, you will need to get approved and setup, this will also go over your options, on paying your Yearly Membership Fee and Seller Fee’s, which is a % of your total overall weekly sales.
If I sell a product on this market that requires state tax to be collected, Who is responsible for collecting the tax?
If you sell on this online Farmers Market, the same rules apply as though you were selling at a traditional market.
If the product you are selling requires that state tax be collected, you are required to pay the tax. You can incorporate the cost of the tax in your selling price.
