Community Supported Agriculture

The Western Montana Growers' Cooperative is a collective of over 30 diverse farm members who have been supplying the wholesale market since 2003. In 2008, we expanded our goal of making fresh and nutritious local food available to our community by delivering food directly to local households, through our CSA or Community Supported Agriculture program. A CSA is a locally-based model of agriculture and food distribution that links individuals who have pledged support of local farms, so that both growers and consumer-members share the in the risks as well as the benefits of food production. These members buy a share before the season begins, and then as soon as produce is harvested, it is delivered in a weekly box throughout the growing season.

As a WMGC CSA member, you will receive a weekly box of produce delivered to a drop point in your neighborhood. We serve many neighborhoods in Missoula, as far south as Victor, and as far north as Polson. In 2011, we also began a Helena delivery. If you are in a group of 10 or more outside our delivery area, contact us about shipping our weekly boxes to you.

We also offer you a unique opportunity to buy additional locally grown products at discounted prices from all of our producers. Each week you may order extra products directly from our website. In season, we offer fruit, vegetables, herbs, butter, cheese, milk, eggs, beef, lamb, pork, chickens, lentils, barley and more. All are grown without synthetic chemicals and fertilizers and all are offered at wholesale prices to our members. This year, we will also offer an egg share, a beef share, and a cheese share.

Each week we will send you a newsletter with recipe ideas, and messages from the growers, so that you have the opportunity to know your farmers, even if you can't always drive out to each farm. During the height of the season we will provide an opportunity for you to tour the farms in person. We help you to experience that Local is Delicious!

Our deliveries will begin June 6 and continue through the end of October (20 weeks) for the Summer Share.

Pricing

Full Summer Share: $560 (an average price of $28.00 per week) Small Summer Share: $370 (an average price of $18.50 per week)
Unlike most other CSAs we do not require a full payment up front. Upon sign up we require a $100 deposit to hold your membership and the remainder of payment is due in two installments. It is important to note that you will receive a significant discount if you pay your share in full by our Early Bird dates; please see a breakdown below. This allows the farmers more up-front capital to begin their season. We are proud to announce that we also accept SNAP payments!

Payment Options:
1) Paid in full by March 1: $520 for a full share and $345 for a small share.
2) Paid in full by April 15: $545 for a full share and $360 for a small share
3) Paid in full by July 1:
$560 for a large share (= $100 deposit to secure share + $180 by May 15 + $280 by July 1)
$370 for a small share (= $100 deposit to secure share + $85 by May 15 + $185 by July 1)

The Small Summer Share is approximately two-thirds the size of the Full Summer Share. Because Full Share members are purchasing more, they will receive a larger discount from market prices on their produce. In addition, the Full Share will include more fruit (apples, plums, strawberries, cherries, pears, melons, etc.), and more specialty types of produce such as heirloom tomatoes and shallots.

Fall/Winter Share: $300
*Please note that we are expanding our Fall/Winter Share into a more continuous share. We are still working on the details, but we plan to offer the share from October 23 through mid-December, five deliveries in total, as a bi-weekly delivery. This will allow WMGC to do the storage for you and still allow you to enjoy local produce for a longer period in the winter.

We are expanding our shares this year to include more of the wonderful (local and chemical-free) products our growers provide, in addition to fruits and vegetables...

Egg Share - For just $90, you will receive 20 deliveries each of 1 dozen eggs. These eggs are from hens who are forage on green pasture in summer and eat leafy certified organic green alfalfa hay all winter. In addition, they are free to forage for tasty bugs and other critters they might find in the field. This diet is supplemented with certified organic grains raised in Montana.

Cheese Share - The Cheese Share will be 10 deliveries (bi-weekly during the Summer Share season) of cheese selections from Lifeline Dairy and Flathead Lake Cheese Company. Lifeline Farm, located in Victor, is biodynamic and the first certified organic farm in Montana. Their cheese selections will include Montzarella, Montana Jack, Cheddar (Sharp, Raw, Mild), Brie, Cheddar Curds, and more. More information about Lifeline is at www.lifelinefarm.com. Flathead Lake Cheese Company is based in Polson where they create artisanal cheeses by hand in small batches. They use one dairy in Mission Valley that supplies milk free of any hormones or antibiotics and use solar thermal heat to pasteurize the milk in-house. Their cheese selections to be included in the share include Doorstop Gouda, Wisp 'o Smoke Gouda, Hoppin' Mad Gouda, Plan 9, Plan 9 Smoked, Hawaiian Shirt Feta, Natural Gouda Curds, and Smoked Gouda Curds. You can read about Wendi and Joe at www.flatheadlakecheese.com. The cost is $175.

Beef Share - This year we are so pleased to announce our beef share option. For members who choose this share, they will receive at least 65 pounds of locally, gently raised, organically grass fed and finished beef, or 1/8 of the animal. The cuts of meat will vary with each delivery, but you can expect ground beef, along with this range of cuts with your order: rib steaks, chuck roasts, cross ribs (either steak or roast), brisket, short ribs, stew meat, t-bones, sirloins, tri-tips, tenderloin, sirloin tip, top and bottom round, filet mignon and rib roasts (organ meat available upon request). You may choose to receive the share in just one delivery or three deliveries in total, as well as delicious grass-fed beef recipes with each delivery! The cost is $445.

Our cows are raised on a Growers Cooperative member farm, Foothill Farm in the Mission Valley. Foothill Farm is certified organic, and a member of the Montana Sustainable Growers' Union. The animals are raised without the use of antibiotics, synthetic growth hormones or pesticides. They spend the growing season on Foothill Farm pastures, and are fed hay that was raised on the same farm through the winter.

Sign Up Here

If you have any questions, please contact us at 544-6135 or csa@wmgcoop.com.

Look for us on Facebook

Learn more about Community Supported Agriculture