Shareholder FAQs
Where and when do I pick up my share each week?
We offer weekly and biweekly pickup at multiple different locations around Jefferson County. Each location has 1-2 time slots where we are open for pickup. When you signup for a Local Food Share, you will pick the location and time that works best for you.
See here for our locations and pickup times.
If you miss your pickup, there is usually 1 other time when you can get your share each week. See next question for details on what to do if you miss picking up your share!
Can I still purchase a share even though I travel during the summer?
Of course! In addition to our weekly share options, we also offer biweekly shares where you can pick up your food every other week. This is a great option for people who travel a lot and won’t need to replenish their fridge every week. Additionally, our summer season runs until the end of October. So if you travel a lot during the Summer months, you can sign up later in the season when you'll be around more!
In addition, you can always have a friend or neighbor pick up for you. All they need is your name, and they can take home the food.
You can also put your account on hold for up to 3 weeks at a time while you are gone, and then receive extra produce the week you return. You can set a delivery hold by logging in to your account and using the "Delivery Hold" tab.
Is there an alternative place/time to pick up my share if I cannot make it to my scheduled pickup?
If you know you cannot make it on your scheduled pickup day/time, there are a few options for you.
1) You can always pick up at the alternate time slot for your location! As long as you pickup at your selected location (even if it's not the time slot you signed up for), we'll be there with your food!
- For Downtown Golden, you can pick up either Thursday afternoon from 3:30-6:30, or Friday morning from 8:00 - 9:30.
- For Centura Arvada, you can pick up either Thursday afternoon from 3:30-6:00, or Friday morning from 8:00 - 9:30.
- For Centura Golden, you can pick up either Wednesday afternoon from 3:30-6:30, or Thursday morning from 8:00 - 9:30.
- For Evergreen, you can pick up either Wednesday afternoon from 3:30-6:00, or Thursday morning at Centura Golden from 8:00 - 9:30.
2) You can always have a friend or neighbor pickup your food for you!
3) If you know in advance you'll be missing pickup, you can place a hold on your account to let us know if you have to miss a week, and choose a makeup week. Holds must be placed at least 1 week in advance. See our blog for details on how to set a hold.
4) If you would like to pickup at a different location, please email us to let us know at least 1 week in advance. If this is a last minute change, we may not be able to accomadate this request, as our food may already be ordered, packed, and delivered for each shareholder at their respective pickup location. Feel free to email us if you have any other questios about how this works!
Can I have someone else pick up my share for me?
Yes! You can always have someone else pickup for you. All they need to provide is the name on your account.
Which size vegetable share should I sign up for?
Every family is different and it largely depends on how much produce you eat at home. Though as a starting point, we recommend the Large Veggie share to feed a household of 4 or more. the Regular Veggie share for households of 2-3, and the Mini Veggie share for smaller households of 1-2.
If you cook and eat a lot of veggies at home you may want to go up in size, and if you do not cook very much at home, we recomend starting with a smaller share. You can also choose between a weekly or biweekly share to help make the share sizes work for you (i.e. a family of 4 who does not cook much at home, may want to opt for a weekly Regular Veggie share OR a biweekly Larve Veggie share).
Will there be a chance to switch around the items that come in my share each week?
Yes. There is always a SWAP BOX at your pickup location where you can leave produce items you do not want, and take from it what you do want. We ask that you only take from the swap box the quantity of items that you leave for others.
Though instead of swapping, we encourage you to try new items that you might not have had before! We send out recipes for our produce items each week, so you won’t be short of ideas.
Is all the produce organic?
All of our produce is grown using organic and sustainable practices. Though many of our farmers ARE certified organic, not all of the are. This is because many of our farmers are very small in scale and organic certification is not financially feasible. Though you can rest assured knowing that ALL of our farmers avoid GMOs (genetically modified organisms), pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and other harmful toxins on their farm.
For more about our food standards, see here!
How do I know food safety is being practiced in the handling of my shares?
Food safety is a top priority for GoFarm. We have a food safety plan based off guidelines provided by the USDA and have safety checklists posted in all of our distribution locations. We are very diligent about following food safety protocols and we continually monitor all the steps of our process to ensure our food is fresh, clean, and free of contaminants.
Every week we sanitize ALL the surfaces within our distribution locations, wash our hands multiple times throughout the day, and make sure that your food touches as few hands and surfaces as possible before getting to you.
Even though your food sees minimal handling, we still encourage you to wash your food at home before you snack!
How do you define local? Is all your food grown locally?
While GoFarm is making fresh, healthy food accessible to Golden, Arvada, Evergreen, and other parts of the Front Range, we consider all of Colorado to be local. The USDA defines local as food grown within 400 miles of distribution, though we try to buy as hyper-local as possible, with most of our farmers farming within 40 miles of Jefferson County.
The close proximity of our farmers means your produce travels less to get to you, and comes to you FRESH from the farm, within a day or two of being picked/harvested.
Read more about your farmers here.
Can I buy a share for someone else who needs it?
Of course. The best way to buy a share for someone else is to make a donation to GoFarm, as much of our donations go toward our Community Food Access program which helps make healthy food more affordable and accessible to under-resourced communities.
If you are interested in purchasing a share for someone as a gift, you can simply sign up for a share as you normally would, and then email us with details on who you would like to "gift" the share to. We will then change the contact information on the account so that your gift recipient will have all the information they need to pick up their food each week!
Do you accept SNAP payments?
Yes! We accept SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB), which means that shares are half-price when you sign up for 2 or 4 weeks at a time. To pay with SNAP and DUFB, sign up online and choose “EBT/SNAP Payment” as your payment method. Once you finish signing up, we’ll contact you to arrange for your in-person payment for your food share.
See here for more information about paying with SNAP.
How do I sign up for the Local Food Share?
Check out our share options, and click "Get Local Food Shares" when your ready to signup! This will take you to a signup portal where you choose your pickup location, time, frequency, share types, and payment options.
You can also
click here to sign up right away!
If you have any questions or experience trouble signing up, you can contact us at localfoodshare@gofarm.org.
Can I cancel my share and get a refund?
Unfortunately, we do not offer cancellation refunds.
Our farmers rely on your commitment as a shareholder, as many of them rely on GoFarm as their main sales avenue and/or set aside a portion of their fields to grow for GoFarm shareholders specifically. We are very grateful to our shareholders, as you are joining us in that commitment to these farmers!
In addition, as an organization, GoFarm also relies on the upfront funds from our shareholders as these funds are woven into helping us run our many programs that strengthen the local food system. Though, we know life throws us curveballs sometimes. If you have an extenuating circumstance, please let us know and we will try our best to accomodate you!
Read our blog to read more about our shareholder policies.
How do you come up with the prices for your food shares?
Our prices are formulated first and foremost, by the cost of food set by our farmers, who set the price of their food based on the items actual value. The actual value takes into account the cost of the land, water, and equipment required to grow the food, the work to ensure healthy, rich soils for sustainable growing practices, and the long hours and labor required by our farmers and farm workers, while ensuring equitable and safe working conditions.
We also factor in some of the time and labor it takes for us aggregate and distribute food to our community members. As well as the time and resources is take to run many other programs that work to build a strong local food system. So as a shareholder, you are not only paying for a season of good food, you are making a difference in the livelihoods of our local, small-scale, beginning farmers, you are voting with your dollar and creating demand for local food and sustainable growing practices, and you are helping GoFarm improve our local food system as a whole.
Our goal is to keep our prices as fair as possible while still being able to sustain our programs that transform and strengthen our local food system!
To read more about our prices and your impact as a shareholder, check out our blog!
What happens if I accidently miss picking up my share?
If you miss your pickup, there is usually 1 other time when you can get your share during the week.
1)
If you are an Evergreen shareholder and you miss your Wednesday afternoon pickup, you can always pickup your share on Thursday mornings at Centura Golden (750 Warner Drive), from 8:00am - 9:30am.
2)
If you are a Centura Golden shareholder and you miss your Wednesday afternoon pickup, you can always pickup your share on Thursday mornings at Centura Golden from 8:00am - 9:30am.
3)
If you are a Downtown Golden shareholder and you miss your Thursday afternoon pickup, you can always pickup your share on Friday mornings at Downtown Golden from 8:00am - 9:30am.
4)
If you are a Centura Arvada shareholder and you miss your Thursday afternoon pickup, you can always pickup your share on Friday mornings at Centura Arvada from 8:00am - 9:30am.
Because we we aim to get the freshest food possible out into the community, if you miss a morning pickup your food will be donated to our
Community Food Access program. This program makes food more accessible and affordable in under-resourced communities, and though we regret not being able to get you your food, the donation greatly impacts others in our community!
To give out staff a break, we do not operate on weekends and unforteunly, will not be able to get you any missed shares on Saturdays or Sundays.
Can I change my pickup location and time?
Yes*! To change your pickup location and time, log in to your account here.
In the Summary Panel on the right, click either "Permanent", to change your location/time for the remainder of the season, or "Next Delivery" to make a change for the upcoming week only. Choose which location you would like to switch to, and click Save. You will reveive a confirmation email once confirmed.
*Changes to your delivery location and day need to be made at least 1 week before your next delivery in order to take effect.
If you have any trouble changing your location and time, please reach out to us. As long as it is 1 week out from your next pickup, we'll be able to switch your location! Please note that to give our staff a break, we do not respond to emails on Saturdays and Sundays.
How do I put a hold on my account if I need to miss a week (or two)?
By putting your account on hold, we will make sure to not order food for you during the week you are gone, and can get you extra food on a week of your choice. Holds need to be made at least 1 week in advance of the days you will be missing.
Here are directions for setting a hold on your account:
1. Log into your
account, and click “Delivery Hold” button/icon.
2. Enter the date(s) for the weeks you will be missing. You are able to enter 3 dates at a time.
3. Click save
4. You'll be promted to pick make-up shares for each of the weeks that you are missing.
Note* If you are biweekly, you will only be promted to choose makeup dates that fall on your biweekly schedule. If you would like to schedule a makeup date on your "off-week", please email localfoodshare@gofarm.org and we can make this change manually for you!
Can I change my order, add/remove shares, or change the size of vegetable share?
If you would like to add an item to your order, you can easily do so! Follow these directions on our blog to add an item to your account.
If you would like to upgrade to a larger vegetable share, please email us and let us know. We will be able to make this change for you and send you a link for additional payment.
All changes to your account must be made at least 5 days before your next pickup!
If you would like to downgrade to a smaller vegetable share, or remove an item from your account, please email us to let us know. We unfortunetly are not able to offer refunds because of the committment we make to our farmers and producers, though we also want to make sure you get the amount of food thats right for you, so we will try to accomadate you as best we can.
Can I sign up after the season has already started?
Yes! You can signup at any point during the season. Your payment will be prorated based on how many weeks are left in the season.
You will need to signup by Friday at 5pm MT in order to get in on the following week's food.
Be sure to check your confirmation email to note when your first pickup date is!
