How Does RARE Help Farmers?
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Real Farmers include a diverse range of sustainable food production operations, wild foragers, community gardens and some select, natural craftsmen & women. All real farmers can be a part of our Farmer Support services who meet the criteria and pass the interview. Real Farmers that negotiate a 'Purchase Agreement' with RARE to help us create our RARE Boxes are considered 'RARE Producers'. RARE Producers benefit from the easy and high revenue sales options generated from Purchase Agreements by RARE, as well as more frequent access to RARE Board Directors who determine decisions about financial contributions awarded to real farmers.
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We have described only a few of the benefits available to RARE Producers. We want to be clear that we prioritize food producers who are earning less than $40,000/year from their operation, and also factor in convenience, locale and other logistics when selecting RARE Producers. RARE Producers that earn above $40,000/year will most likely not be eligible for many of the financial-assistance Farmer Support Activities, but special cases may be given consideration on a case-by-case basis. Additionally, if you are a real farmer who lives in our local area but is not capable of being a RARE Producer at the moment, you can still qualify for some these benefits. Contact us for more information.
Benefits of Being a RARE Producer
Agritourism Marketing on the RARE Farm
The RARE Farm will be a hub for agritourism, wildlife education & ecological conservation in the Northeast GA, Western Carolina & Southeast TN region. A large sign displaying the contact information, operating/visitation hours, & goods/services provided by each of our RARE Producers and like-minded entities will be prominent for the general public, tourists and visitiors to view.
Online Farmer Profiles for Individual Project Donations
Our website has a 'Farmer Profiles' page, with profiles of each real farmer's operation, written by the farmer him/herself. We encourage food producers to describe an expensive element or project they believe would help contribute to the future success of their operation, and a 'donate now' button in that farmer profile will provide a direct link for the general public to donate directly (via crowdfunding platforms) towards the project the food producer describes.
Labor Pool, Shared Tools & Specialized Expertise
RARE will be organizing free labor pools of volunteers to help local food producers with 'big jobs' on their operation. Be it digging a 1/4 mile trench for electrical lines, handing weeding one overgrown acre, or assisting in mending property fences, RARE will put out a call and organize a crew. We will also have a sign-in/sign-out 'Shared Tool Shed' for local producers, and reach out to academic or industry experts on behalf of producers dealing with a specific problem or issue.
The RARE Box - Consistent Income & End-of-Year Bonuses
The RARE Box provides a consistent sales outlet at premium prices for producers who work with us to create our RARE Boxes. It's less work for food producers, and introduces them to markets they would otherwise not be able to reach. See 'The RARE Box' section on the Farmer Support page to learn more.
RARE Financial Awards to Struggling Food Producers
We will be awarding a large portion of the total financial contributions we receive in our annual fundraising efforts to full-time, real farmers that earn less than $40,000/year from their operation. The award will be given to real farmers who are in need of high-capitol critical infrastructure or services to continue their operation, or to assist existing food producers who can reasonably demonstrate how the addition of a high-capitol element or service will further their operation's future success. The award may go to one or more real farmers, and the individual(s) are selected by the RARE Board of Directors.
Additional Exposure &
Revenue Streams
We will be increasing the visibility and marketing of real farmers through concerts, events and festivals on the RARE Farm, as well as promoting bookings with real farmers for those with on-site AirBNB's (which we call 'FarmBNBs'). We plan on reaching out to high-end restaurants in the Atlanta area that may be interested in purchasing from real farmers, and facilitate increasing the ability of real farmers to sell their goods at fair prices.
Set Up an Interview
If you're a food producer who is interested in working with RARE, email Jesse about what you do, where you are and we will try to schedule a meeting to come visit. The 'interview' is just talking with you about what you're doing, touring your operation, and essentially making sure you're not a secret millionaire hiding behind the image of a real farmer who is struggling to make ends meet. To this date, we can say that we haven't met any of these 'secret millionaire' types, but with the world we live in these days, you never know...The point of the interview is to make sure your operation meets Our Standards, and to figure out how RARE can help you to the best of our ability. Please don't be intimidated by us - we're not very 'fancy' people, and most importantly, we're on your side.
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