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Roots OF Health Produceshare,
Farmer BIDS
What it is: The Roots of Health (ROH) Employee Produceshare Program is a partnership between Common Spirit (formerly Centura), Mercy Regional Medical Center, and the Good Food Collective to increase food security and health within Mercy’s hospital staff. In 2024, we will be building off of last year's successes and offering another 14 week, on-site CSA program (aka produceshare program) to 130-150 Mercy Hospital Employees, beginning the last week of June and ending the last week in September. Enrollment priority is given to Mercy hourly employees earning less than $20/hour.
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Program Details: We are currently seeking producers from the Four Corners region to supply CSA shares to support the food security and well-being of our region's healthcare workers. In addition to the benefits this program provides to the share recipients, it is our intent that participating growers get all of the standard benefits associated with CSA programs, with the additional bonus that The Good Food Collective and Mercy will manage all of the customer relations, communications, and distribution. Everyone wins! As a participating producer, you would receive advance, full payment for your CSA shares. During the season, pre-packaged shares would be delivered to the Good Food Collective on a weekly basis, whose staff, in turn, distribute the shares to participating Mercy associates.
You would be responsible for sending communications to the GFC communications manager, who re-packages and sends them to the ROH participants receiving your shares. The GFC Communications manager also manages and addresses all consumer questions and complaints, only handing over communications if direct consumer-to-farmer communications are the more appropriate channel.
Desired Produceshare Characteristics
Timeline: Roots of Health is a 14 week CSA program beginning the last week of June and runs through the last week of September.
Quantities: We are seeking participating farms that can provide at least 20 shares for the duration of the program with no cap. Farms are welcome to bid on all 150 shares.
Total Share Value: $32/share, tax exempt. Note this is a wholesale value, NOT retail. Last year, this translated to about 10 pounds/share. Because we contract with multiple producers for this CSA program, we ask that you keep the weekly shares to no more than our agreed upon value. This makes it fair to all of our participating farmers, and it avoids jealousy amongst the participants!
Share Contents: Fresh, high-grade product. Preference for ‘standard’ produce that is more recognizable and desirable to our customer base (i.e. produce that you can find in your standard grocery store). We are looking for farms who can grow a diversity of crops, including tomatoes, and a balanced mix of salad greens and big leafy greens.
Share Delivery: Participating farmers will deliver shares to the GFC’s cold storage trailer located within Durango, Colorado. The GFC team will connect with you prior to establishing a contract to determine the best day/time for share delivery. This day/time will be determined based on what works best for you, as well as, what works best for the Mercy participants’ schedule. Each week, it is expected that you would deliver your shares within 24 hours of the agreed upon date/time to our cold storage trailer located in Durango, CO. The trailer has a numeric code lock and is available to you 24 hours/day.
Contract Fulfillment: Similar to any CSA program, we are sharing the risk with you and acknowledge that crop failures and CSA contents and quantities may vary throughout the season. That said, the expectation is that Mercy participants would be treated with equal consideration as any other CSA customer and that you would make every attempt to fulfill your weekly share commitment.
Packaging: Shares should be packaged in a single, transportable packaging that can withstand sogginess and refrigeration (ex. Plastic Bags, though ideally compostable bags). Items sensitive to refrigeration (ex. tomatoes) can be packaged separately. Producers are responsible for packaging costs, which can be rolled into the total share value (e.g. if packaging costs you $1/share, the value of veggies included in the share is $31, bringing total value to $32).
Add-Ons: We are happy to extend any ongoing ‘add on’ opportunities to CSA participants such as joining your eggshare, flower orders, etc. Should you opt to offer an ‘add on’, you would be responsible for putting together advertising materials/content, processing orders, collecting payment, and coordinating distribution logistics with the Good Food Collective. Add-ons that accept EBT (SNAP) and Double Up Food Bucks are strongly encouraged.
Payment: Once a term of contract is established, you would submit a tax-free invoice and W9 to the Good Food Collective and be paid in full within 30 days of its receipt.
Communication: We want CSA recipients to get to know you, your farm, and their food. Similar to any CSA program, each week we are asking farmers to submit the list of items in the CSA as well as a farm update (a few sentences and a picture) the day before distribution. Farmers can also include ways for participants to get involved at their farm or relevant community events. The GFC will collect this information and send it out to participants to keep folks engaged and informed!
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Participation Requirements: To be considered eligible, participating farms must have and use a Farm Safety Plan. Third party certification is not required. A copy of your Farm Safety Plan will be requested prior to confirming the terms of our contract. Farmers will also need to share proof of liability policy valued >/=$1 million. Finally, participating farmers will be asked to attend a pre-season orientation call, and to complete a post-season survey.
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Selection Criteria: Contracts will be awarded based on a producers’ ability to meet the requirements laid out above, as well as ability to manage CSA-style production aligned with the scale of your bid. Priority will be given to producers within a 100 mile radius of Mercy Regional Medical Center, as well as small-scale, beginning, LGTBQ+, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and women owned farms.
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Important Dates:
1/30/24: Bids are due
2/16/24: GFC informs you of whether or not your bid was accepted
3/1/24: Farms accept offers and submit all onboarding documentation (W9, Liability Policy, Farm Safety Plan, etc)
30 days after onboarding is complete: Payment is made to farmers
Weekly CSA deliveries start last week of June and end the last week of September
To submit a bid: please complete this application by 1/30/24.
If you have any questions, please contact Lauren Ames at foodsecurity@goodfoodcollective.org or (970) 403-5347.
Here at the GFC, we believe that a healthy regional food system creates economic opportunities for rural areas, stewards our environment, creates jobs, ensures that EVERYONE in our community has access to nutritious, dignified food, and builds the backbone of a vibrant community. Join our team to become directly involved in the making of this vision.
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