What does it mean to be a member of Six Rivers Market?

By becoming a member of Six Rivers Market, you join your community in creating a sustainable food economy by supporting our local farmers and producers.  In other words, you help buffer our community against the fluctuations of the larger world economy by encouraging local production and local jobs.  In return you receive fresh, healthy food and a closer tie with the caring hands that produce your food.

You are also joining a cooperative, which means your contributions support the business of the cooperative and that you have equal say in how the business is run.  Six Rivers Market will have annual membership meetings, during which the cooperative membership elects a board of directors to govern the business of the cooperative.  Each member, whether producer or consumer, has an equal vote in how the market functions.

Do you want to see a new product category or a push for more growth?  You’ll have a say in that.  As a result, all members receive some sort of return, as determined by the health of the business and the discretion of the governing board of directors.  This can be in the form of member discounts, special sales, or even in the form of an annual patronage dividend.

For more detailed information, you can read through the following pages:
    Membership Handbook
    Frequently Asked Questions
    Terms of Service
    Membership Structure

What exactly does Six Rivers Market do again?

Acting as the agent of producer members, Six Rivers Market posts and publicizes the products the producers have for sale, receives orders, provides a way for products to be delivered to other members of the cooperative, collects from the customers and forwards the payments to the producers.  Acting as the agent for consumer members, we provide them a catalog of available local food products that includes information about how and where the product was grown or processed. We receive their orders and notify the appropriate producers, arrange for the food to be delivered, receive and process their payments. For both producer and customer members, we provide a basic screening of products and producers based on our published parameters, and education and training regarding the use and the advantages of local foods.

For some of our producer members, we are agents that facilitate farm gate sales of their products. For other producer members, we facilitate off-farm sales or sales of processed products.

The essential business of the cooperative is to provide a marketplace where willing buyers and sellers can meet. At no time does the cooperative ever have title to any of the products. We have no inventory. The products that go through our distribution system are owned either by the producer, or by the customer who purchases "title" to the product from the producer.