FAQs - The Community Farm

How do I pay?

2021-07-31T23:04:25+01:00

You can make payment using credit or debit card.

You'll need to register your card details with us. We'll then take the correct payment from you each time an order is delivered.

When you register your payment details, we will process a £1 payment to set up your card. This will be immediately refunded to you. Your card details are then held securely.

Please note that it can take two to three working days for the charges to appear on your statement and remember to update your details if you get a new card.

You can register or update your payment card and view your payment history on the My Account > Payments page.

Please note:

We use Opayo, the largest independent payment service provider (PSP) in the UK and Ireland, to take all our online and telephone orders.

Online payments on our website are taken via a secure payment screen hosted with Opayo. We use their secure payment gateway via a hosted form, so at no point do our customers payment card details touch our own website, networks or database. Repeat payments for regular orders are also processed through Opayo.

So when purchasing through our site, you can be sure that you are completely protected.

Can I pay using Bristol Pounds?

2021-07-31T23:04:54+01:00

We are currently not accepting payments via Bristol Pounds. This is due to the transition taking place at Bristol Pound.

Do the prices change depending on the time of year?

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Because the price of fresh fruit and vegetables is very much governed by seasonal changes and the weather, we work in harmony with the seasons when we select the produce for our boxes. This means we can offer the freshest produce at the best possible prices.

The prices of some of the individual extra items may, however, be subject to change.

Is there a charge for delivery?

2021-07-31T23:06:07+01:00

Delivery is free on all orders priced £9.95 and upwards. For smaller orders there is a £1 delivery charge.

When will you take payment?

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We normally take payment 2 days before the box is delivered to you.

What is the Carrot Club?

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At a cost of £35 a year, the Carrot Club entitles you to a 10% discount on all box and grocery orders.

To join the Carrot Club, if you are already a customer, go to My Account > Carrot Club and click the button to make payment with your registered payment card.

If you are not registered as a customer yet, you can tick the box to indicate you’d like to join the Carrot Club on our Registration Form.

The scheme does not give you any voting rights; these are only available to Investor Members.

How our pricing works

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The true cost of food

Our food is more expensive than non-organic food you might find at the supermarket. 'Cheap' food, from the industrialised food system that supermarkets support, only looks cheap. Really the costs have been absorbed by farmers and by the environment. The environment suffers from extractive and abusive practices which pollute our waterways, damage habitats and release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (Sustainable Food Trust, 2019), all whilst plunging 25% of farmers below the poverty line (Sustain, 2022).

Research has shown that for every £1 we spend on food in the mainstream food system, there’s £1 of hidden costs in damages to the health of humans and the natural world (Sustainable Food Trust, 2019). In comparison, organisations like ours have been proven to generate £3.70 of social and environmental value for every £1 spent (New Economics Foundation, 2021).

How we work out our prices

As well as selling all of the veg we grow on our own fields, we buy produce from other farmers, as locally as possible. We work closely with those farmers to make sure that we pay them a fair price for growing food in a way that's good for wildlife and the climate, as well as helping them make a fair wage.

To get to the price that you see on the website for the veg boxes, we set ourselves a budget to buy-in veg to fill the box and then add a bit extra to cover staff time and overheads. As we're a not-for-profit, you can rest assured that we keep our prices as low as possible and all of your money is going towards producing and delivering the food you eat.

The price and type of produce changes throughout the year, so the amount you get in your boxes will change a bit too. The boxes look their best in late summer and autumn when the harvest abundance means veg is at its cheapest, and the boxes can look a bit thin from April to June when we've eaten most of the crops that were planted the previous year, but the crops planted in spring aren't yet ready to harvest - making the costs more expensive (you can read more about this time of year here - 'What actually is the hungry gap').

Every now and again if the boxes start to feel emptier than we’d like, we review the buying allowance and slightly raise our prices to make sure you're getting a good amount of organic goodness delivered to your door. We'll always let you know about a price rise in advance via the website and in your order confirmation email.