Let me tell you a story about the farm.
Once upon a time, 28 years ago, a ragtag bunch of hardworking idealists began growing vegetables in the hills of Nevada County. Over the years, the local community came to enjoy the food they produced, the farm grew and improved in many ways, and eventually Mountain Bounty Farm became somewhat of a local institution.
However, It was a fragile enterprise, like most small farms it swam against powerful currents. The economics of growing food have always been tough. Nevertheless, due to hard work, creativity, and your support, the farm experienced a long period of relative success.
Now, the farm is at a crossroads. Intensifying economic currents are catching up to this upstream swimming creature, and we are beginning to sink. Put simply, our costs (like everyone’s!), are way up. And income has not kept up. CSA membership has dropped from a pandemic high of 850 to now around 600. In 2023, for the first time ever, we lost money. We operate close to bone: we fix most broken things ourselves, and there is not much more we can cut. Our crew, which is by far our biggest cost, is also our biggest treasure, and what makes Mountain Bounty unique. Because of the incredible skill and effort of our crew, and despite the economic challenges, the farm is operating at its highest level and growing food better than ever before.
So what are we going to do? We are going to make a big ask for your help and make some changes that nobody is going to like. We are going to raise our prices by 5%, and will raise them again in 6 months. Also, we are going to limit the amount of members’ box holds to 2 holds per 6 months, which was our practice before 2020. We introduced unlimited box holds in 2020 and the program has been very popular. In any given week there are around 120 boxes on hold. We cannot sustain this. We understand that we may lose some members due to these changes. But if we don’t do this...things aren’t going to work out anyway, so we are left with this choice. Please stick with us, if you want us to continue, we need your help. It’ll mean a few dollars more per box, and the effort of finding a neighbor or friend to pickup your box while you are away (or you can choose to donate it). Thank you in advance, we know this isn’t the best news, but we gotta give it to you straight.
Another thing we can do is gather more members! We are doing our best to toot our own horns, and you can help us by continuing to tell your friends. Word of mouth, that beautiful proof of a functioning community, has always been the way people have come to us.
Please consider your options, and consider how much you value your local farms, the produce we bring to your table, but also the many other ways we build and add to the community. Mountain Bounty is not and has never been easy, but together, we can keep this story going.
As always, thank you for your support!
John Tecklin