WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY

 

Welcome to our Small Scale Farms family. We are a farm share community that gets local food onto the plates of Niagara residents.Those who can afford to pay - do. Those who can’t afford to pay, our “profits” take care of them too.

First things first we need to clarify that you mean to fill out this form. This form is for those of you who are in need of food but can not afford to pay. If you can afford to pay, please visit our website. We have received a few responses from people that thought they were requesting a trial of the paid weekly produce boxes, but the FOOD FED FORWARD Program is not a free trial, it is a delivery of food to people in our community that need help right now.

As your circumstances change and you no longer require our help then let us know so that we can offer food to another family.

We have included a list of frequently asked questions below. Our amazing team of volunteers are overwhelmed with questions and we are hoping this will help you better understand what we are doing, and will allow our team to focus on the logistics. Our goal right now is to get everyone who needs it more food, more consistently.

Once you have read through the FAQs and completely understand how this works, please click on the form below and enter your information as best you can to receive a free produce box from Small Scale Farms.  Please know there are many people reaching out for help at this time but we will do our best to deliver to everyone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the Food Fed Forward program?

• A: The Food Fed Forward Program is free food boxes delivered to community members that have filled out a Community Food Request Form.

Q: What kind of food is given?

• A: The food comes from multiple sources. The kinds of food depends on the source of the food.
• Small Scale Farms CSA program. The majority of the food comes from here. We buy from local vendors, farmers and distributors, and organize it into weekly boxes delivered right to our customers’ doors for a weekly fee. We purchase extra so the FOOD FED FORWARD boxes are filled with fresh local produce.
• Weekly donations from customers. CSA customers can donate money with their subscription which allows us to purchase additional food to supplement the Food Fed Forward boxes as needed.
• Local vendors, farmers, distributors and community food organizations. Sometimes these organizations have excess themselves and we receive large amounts of donated food; this is when you will receive other items like large bags of pre-packaged produce, bakery, and occasionally pantry items.

Q: How often will I receive food? 

• A: Currently we have given away over well over 1000 bags of produce into our community. We do rely on paid participants for this program to work so at our current capacity we can get everyone on this list a box every 4-5 weeks. That being said requests for food will increase so in return we are working hard to inspire our community to keep supporting us by way of a subscription veggie box. This helps everyone! And now that we’ve had a few weeks to organize ourselves and update our database, we are hoping that we can get food boxes to the people that need it more frequently and consistently. 

Q: I requested other items like pet food, diapers, shampoo etc. Will I be receiving those?

• A: Once you are contacted we ask what your ideal needs are. We are working hard with other volunteer community groups to get essentials out to people  but we have limited resources of people, and money, so we can’t exactly guarantee these items, but we will try  

Q: I have a neighbour, family or friend that needs food, too. Can I receive an extra box?

•  A: Yes, let us know when we call. If the person needs it delivered to their door and not yours we ask that they fill out their own form.

Q: I live in an apartment and cannot come down to get food at the front door, can the drivers bring my box right to my door?

•  A: No, with COVID-19 we cannot have our drivers enter the building. We ask if neighbours living in the building can help bring the box up; if this is not possible you will need to speak with one of our team members at Small Scale Farms to find an appropriate solution.

Q: I don’t have a way of cooking any of this food, do you offer prepared foods?

•  A: At the moment no, we are working hard to prepare meals for free again but with COVID-19 we have been experiencing a lot of limitations. We will be posting shortly when our meals become available again. 

 

From our family at Small Scale Farms to yours, we are here for you, working with you, to help grow more food for those that need it in our community. Thank you for reaching out. Someone from our organization will be in touch with you shortly. Please give us time to reach you, there is a very high demand for food in our community at this time but we are doing our best to get it to you. If this is an emergency please reach out via email.

foodfedforward@smallscalefarms.ca

Locally yours,

Small Scale Farms