How does our virtual farmers market work?
We have moved to a new platform! We partnered with Local Food Marketplace to create our new e-commerce virtual farmers market.
We offer two different options to receive your purchases: Home delivery OR pick-up at our New Bedford food hub space.
You can read our response about our previous platform, WhatsGood here.
Pick-Up
Pick-up is at Coastal Foodshed’s Food Hub Space in the Kilburn Mill: 127 W Rodney French Blvd., New Bedford. You will see a sign with a phone number to call for curbside pickup. The pick-up fee is $2.99. (No fee for SNAP/EBT/HIP orders.)
Delivery
Delivery is available only if you live within the delivery area. No one needs to be home at the time of delivery (unless you are a SNAP customer). If you’d like us to leave it in a particular location, please specify in the notes section when you check out. We also recommend that if you are not home, to leave out a cooler and we will place cold items in there. The delivery fee is $6.99. You will receive a notification from your driver when they are on their way.
We deliver to SNAP/EBT/HIP customers (see details below) in New Bedford only, but you must be home at the time of delivery to make the transaction. There is no delivery fee for SNAP customers.
How to shop the Virtual Market using SNAP/HIP/EBT
There are two options to shop online using your SNAP/EBT/HIP benefits.
- PICK-UP: All SNAP customers can shop on our CFS Virtual Market and pick up your order in New Bedford at our food hub. You will pre-order through our market and pay upon pickup with your SNAP/EBT card.
- DELIVERY: Is only available to New Bedford SNAP residents at this time two days a week: Wednesdays and Fridays between 12-6pm. To participate in the SNAP Delivery Market, you must be home within the delivery window (12-6pm) on Wednesday or Friday to complete the transaction and receive your items. The day before your delivery, we will call to confirm your availability and an adequate SNAP balance on your card. If we do not hear from you by 5pm on Tuesday, we will automatically cancel your order.
- HIP benefits (learn more about the Healthy Incentive Program — earn extra SNAP money each month!) will be applied upon purchase. SNAP can only be applied to SNAP eligible items. All other non-eligible items can be charged with a credit card or paid with cash upon pickup. For first time customers, we will call you a day before to confirm your order and answer any questions you may have.
SNAP Customer FAQs:
1. Register for an account (click HERE for registration page)
2. Select what kind of customer you are: “Customers interested in delivery and pick-up purchasing with SNAP/EBT + HIP”
3. Choose your “Default Distribution Location” as either SNAP New Bedford Home Delivery or SNAP Pickup at CFS Food Hub. Please note: Home Delivery is only available for SNAP customers who are New Bedford residents. This will be automatically determined by your zip code.
4. You are ready to start shopping!
We require all customers to have a credit card on file in case you don’t show up to pick up your order, or if you are not present at the time of delivery to process your EBT card. If you can’t pick up or aren’t home for delivery, please call us immediately to let us know. We can sometimes arrange for a different day, but once your order is packed, you are responsible for paying for these items. We cannot give vendors back their items that are often harvested or even baked that day specifically for your order. Your credit card will only be charged if food waste results from your failure to pick up your order or if we are unable to deliver your order during our delivery window.
If you are registered as a SNAP Customer, you can use your HIP Benefits when you shop on the market. Any product that is HIP eligible will say “This product is Healthy Incentive Program eligible” in the product description. For more information on the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP), please visit our hip page or call us at 508-259-2647.
Yes! Right now, we only have grant funding to cover the costs of delivering to SNAP customers in New Bedford. All other SNAP customers, can still shop on the market and pick your order up from our food hub on Wednesdays between 2-5pm at the Kilburn Mill at 127 W Rodney French Blvd. in New Bedford. We will process your payment using your SNAP/EBT card when you come to pick up your order.
