A Family Market Place
Farm Fresh Produce
No On-the-farm Retail Sales!!!
Wholesale Produce Farm
Get a Box of the Freshest Locally Grown Produce Delivered Directly to Your Door Each Week or Pick-up Location of Choice.
Go to Our CSA Subscription Tab to Learn More.
Looking for a Great Gift for the Person that has it ALL?? Our CSA is a Healthy Gift that Gives for Nearly Half the Year.
16 Reasons to Join a Community
Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farm
Picked Fresh! Delivered Near Your Door.
If you aren’t a member of a Community Supported
Agriculture (CSA) farm yet, here are 16 reasons to
join one.
Better flavor: Fresh vegetables have a
rich and full flavor. Since sustainable farming
nourishes the soil, the food nourishes our palates.
Better tasting means you’ll eat more veggies and
eat some that you may not have liked before.
More Nutritious: Freshly picked produce
grown without pesticides and sprays are more
nutritious than conventionally grown vegetables.
Safer Food: Your produce comes directly from
your farmer. No risk of your food getting damaged
or spoiled due to long-distance shipping.
Save Money: CSAs offer high quality produce at
below retail cost. The money goes directly to the
farmer instead of paying distributors and trucking
companies, and it stays in your local economy.
Save Time: You pick up a box or bag of fresh
vegetables already packed for you. No shopping
hassles.
Convenient Pick Up: Easy pick up at another
member’s home or on the farm. Select a
convenient pick-up site near work or home.
More Selection: Farmers grow more vegetable
varieties than found at the grocery store. You’ll
enjoy and discover more vegetable varieties than
you might otherwise buy.
Farmer to Family Link: A CSA is a relationship
between a rural farmer and an urban family. The
farm helps bring families to the land. It serves as a
rural gathering place for urban families to share
events on the farm.
Face-to Face Connection: You can look into the
eyes of the person who grew your food and enjoy
more personal interaction in the process.
Happy Vegetables: Your vegetables are treated
lovingly and gently. Happy vegetables mean a
happy consumer and farmer.
Fun: Experience fun on the farm with harvest
festivals, dinners, celebrations, field days, family
events and more.
Education: You’ll learn new things about how and
where your food is grown.
Protect Your Children: Children are exposed to
four times as many cancer-causing pesticides in
their food as adults. Organic food contains no
carcinogenic pesticides.
Keep Chemicals Off Your Plate: Organic produce
is grown without pesticides or sprays. Pesticides
are poisons and can be harmful to humans.
Reduce Food Allergies: A rainbow variety of fresh
vegetables allows you to rotate your foods and
enjoy more selection.
Improve the Quality in Your Life: Join a CSA and
increase the quality of your life and secure your
children’s future.
Info Provided by FairShare CSA Coalition
Who We Are.....
A Family Market Place is a family owned fresh produce farm and local hub/distributor that specializes in locally grown farm-fresh products. All of the products that we sell are grown right here in the Cedar Valley by a select group of local farms. In addition to fresh produce AFMP sells free-range brown eggs, antibiotic-free chickens/capons, naturally raised Berkshire pork, flowers, plants, and more.
Our small farm is located in Waterloo and we have been in business since 2012. In 2011, we planted a small garden with the intent to feed the family some of our own home grown food. The garden was only 18' by 19' in size, so it was small; we had a pretty good variety of crops planted. tomatoes, green beans, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, watermelon, and a couple of pumpkin plants. Late in July, as we began to harvest our crop, we had way more fruits and veggies then we could eat.....or wanted to can/freeze. Gave some to the neighbors....and the other neighbors.....and another neighbor......and as it happened he had too much also, but he had a small idea of how to get rid of it. Take it to farmers market, and take his with also and sell it for him. Boom......the idea worked!
We didn't sell much because we didn't have much, sales didn't even cover the cost of the cheesy little supplies we used; but the idea worked. That fall and winter a business plan was developed and in the spring of 2012 we tore up nearly all of our half acre side yard to be able to plant a garden. We put up a couple of small sheds, leased a few acres from a neighbor, put up fencing for a few chickens, and off we went with our tiny little red trailer pulled by our tiny little car to farmers market and a couple of restaurant accounts that agreed to buy from us. That tiny little idea has now blossomed (with a lot of really hard work, a whole lot of "no thanks" or "no" answers and enough "yes" answers) into a year-round business that has constructed a network of about 30 farms (all of the farms we source our food from are located in the Greater Cedar Valley) to help supply our retail, grocery store, large institutional, and restaurant accounts/customers in Cedar Falls, Waterloo, Hudson, Cedar Rapids, Mt. Vernon, and surrounding area towns.
We still have that tiny red trailer, but not the tiny car, we wore it out. Now we operate with two full size tow vehicles and two big trailers in order to keep pace. Our 20' foot flatbed trailer handles our farmers markets and bulk/pallet deliveries that we began using in 2013. In 2015, we purchased a second trailer, a commercial grade custom designed refrigerated (also can be set to freezer temps) trailer to handle our more sensitive food items such as eggs, chicken, pork and more perishable fruits/veggies.
Since 2014, we have also offered a 10 or 20 week CSA Share Membership to the public and now in 2019 we are preparing for the summer growing season, which is just around the corner. We want to extend our sincere gratitude to the customers that have helped that tiny little idea grow into a great big dream!!!
Respectfully,
Chad & Melanie Thomas
Wholesale Customers:
Want to become a wholesale customer?
Restaurants, Grocers, Casinos, Hospitals, Universities, K-12 Schools, roadside stands
Call Chad @ 319-493-2323 for a price quote and availability
Deliveries: Monday thru Saturday