City Cousins are people or businesses who offer their home/business as a place where our local subscribers can collect their food. This means that we don’t waste valuable fuel delivering to each individual home and also helps city people to connect again with each other and their food. City cousins form a core part of our organisation and as a city cousin you can choose just how involved you want to become. You can offer your house or garage as a pick up location, you can lead farm tours for ‘your’ subscribers; you can be as involved as you want to be. Food Connect Adelaide will support your role as a city cousin and help ensure your experience is a positive one. City Cousins recieve a discount on their food subscriptions and experience from other states shows that becoming a city cousin can be a rewarding, community building experience and sometimes life changing. One Brisbane City Cousin subsequently left her job and bought a farm to supply FoodConnect!
Registration form to become a City Cousin
Have you got what it takes to be a City Cousin?
City Cousins….
• Already are, or want to be leaders and innovators in their community
• Want to be part of Food Connect’s vision of our future food systems
• Passionate about and committed to local, nutritious food and creating a sense of community
• Willing to be proactive and solve problems creatively
• Friendly and ready to have a laugh
• Positive and easy-going
• Good communicators
What are Food Connect Adelaide’s expectations of me as a City Cousin?
In your role as City Cousin you open up your home to subscriber families who pick up their fruit and
veg boxes, and extra items, each week. There are few basic requirements in fulfilling this role,
these include:
• That you be a subscriber to Food Connect Adelaide!
• That you have a sheltered, easily accessible spot where produce and extras can be stored, out of the weather and good lighting. Our driving team will audit your location to ensure appropriateness.
• That you are available a minimum of 2 hours each week, which includes:
o welcoming new subscriber families to the practicalities of Food Connect Adelaide, either in person on their first pick-up day and/or over the phone;
o helping new Food Connectors get used to the way we do things and following up any difficulties with the orders, i.e. contacting people if they forget to pick up their boxes;
o giving regular feedback to the City Cousin Coordinator regarding missed boxes, delivery issues, or any new ideas you may have;
o spending some time organising empty boxes in preparation for the next delivery day.
• Double-checking the sign-off sheet the day after delivery, to ensure feedback from subscribers and any discrepancies are quickly picked up and communicated to the staff at Food Connect Adelaide.
• That you set the access times to your home, when people can pick up their orders on the designated day, e.g. no pick ups after 8pm, unless prior arrangements have been made.
• That you understand that the people picking up from you have busy, complex lives, just as you probably do, and from time to time there may be a need for flexibility of arrangements.
• Willingness to participate in Food Connect Adelaide events such as farm tours & social gatherings, & also to assist our families to learn more about food – i.e. food security, food miles, supporting our local farmers, seasonality, growing methods.
• Being committed to growing your box numbers, with assistance from Food Connect Adelaide staff. This might take the form of letter box drops / putting up posters in your local area, hosting a tasting evening at your home, informing Food Connect Adelaide about events in your suburb.
• It is preferable that you have regular access to email – Food Connect Adelaide emails out the phone details of subscriber families. If you don’t have email or printer access, please let Food Connect Adelaide know, to make alternative arrangements.
• Be willing to share ideas with Food Connect Adelaide and other City Cousins on how the role of City Cousin is going for you, and any improvements that can be made, i.e. swap boxes, recipes, cooking days together, video nights etc.
• Have a space, preferably in the box pick up area, for a City Cousin notice board (provided by Food Connect Adelaide and maintained by you).
What are Food Connect Adelaide’s commitments to you?
• Food Connect Adelaide is committed to providing enough support for you to comfortably fulfil your role as City Cousin.
• Food Connect Adelaide will regularly provide you with a copy of the phone numbers for all subscriber families who pick up from your place, plus the phone numbers of the delivery drivers.
• Food Connect Adelaide will provide a discount on 2 boxes for you each week. Please note that the discount applies to boxes only, and does not apply to the items on the extras list. Due to the generous discount, no free weeks are applicable and the discount may vary according to levels of participation in the City Cousin program.
• In order to keep you up to date on the latest happenings, Food Connect will offer information and educational opportunities, from time to time. It is important that City Cousins try to attend as many events as possible.
Register your interest in becoming a City Cousin for FoodConnect Adelaide .
