I was a bit bothered with the decision to sell to farmers' markets while discontinuing CSA, because it seemed like selling the same vegetables twice (because the implication, with no additional information available, was that there weren't enough veggies for both, so he was concentrating on the markets to get some extra cash). The later, more elaborated explanation was more about "don't have the non-vegetable resources to make CSA happen (e.g. pickers, auto fuel), so I'm selling at the farmers' market instead." And that made me feel better about it.
The commitment is 2-sided: the shareholder agrees to put up money and accept the risk that the fields flood and there's no crop; the farmer agrees that if there *is* a crop, he'll give some reasonable amount to the shareholder in exchange for the up-front money. I'm fine with that as a deal; I'm less fine with "even if I have vegetables, I might decide to do something else with them rather than give them to you."
But it's really about the communication, as you say -- e.g. last year(?), when he said "I'm having trouble with high oil prices, please chip in extra." I found that entirely reasonable and did so.
Also, I think there's something about how people respond to panic-inducing situations, both in terms of decision-making and communications timing. Many people's instinct is to try to Put Out The Fire As Soon As Possible, meaning make some sort of decision, announce and implement as fast as they can -- and then when they've settled down a little and slept on it, to realize that there was probably a better solution. I empathize with that, even as it frustrates me to be on the receiving end.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-09-29 08:20 pm (UTC)The commitment is 2-sided: the shareholder agrees to put up money and accept the risk that the fields flood and there's no crop; the farmer agrees that if there *is* a crop, he'll give some reasonable amount to the shareholder in exchange for the up-front money. I'm fine with that as a deal; I'm less fine with "even if I have vegetables, I might decide to do something else with them rather than give them to you."
But it's really about the communication, as you say -- e.g. last year(?), when he said "I'm having trouble with high oil prices, please chip in extra." I found that entirely reasonable and did so.
Also, I think there's something about how people respond to panic-inducing situations, both in terms of decision-making and communications timing. Many people's instinct is to try to Put Out The Fire As Soon As Possible, meaning make some sort of decision, announce and implement as fast as they can -- and then when they've settled down a little and slept on it, to realize that there was probably a better solution. I empathize with that, even as it frustrates me to be on the receiving end.