Common Questions
⬇️ Frequently Asked Questions
What is Nourish Cooperative?
We are a growing collective of small family farms that use regenerative agriculture practices. What sets us apart is that we recognize that what your food eats, matters AND we are nit picky about every ingredient in our products. For example - we ensure livestock carcasses are not sprayed with toxic chemicals at butcher, our cheese does NOT contain Pfizer's microbial rennet made in a lab (what over 90% of cheese uses), our products are LOW in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) since we make our own custom feed for our livestock partners, and ALL of our dairy is tested to be A2A2 (making it easier to digest).
So we are very picky with what farm partners we let join the movement, and are picky about the feed our farm partners use (which is why we made our own custom feed that we deliver to the farmers!) Our rigorous vetting ensures we only partner with like-minded farms that raise the healthiest food possible.
Our goals include to...
🥚 ensure our products have the healthiest fats possible
🌱 produce food as nature intended WITHOUT toxic chemicals
🌾 preserve the land through rotational grazing
🐄 respect our resources with proper animal-husbandry
🥩 and bring better food to the table
Essentially - our goal is to produce food how it used to be made back in the day, when no one was sick, and before the food system became centralized and commoditized.
Why is there a waitlist?
We are VERY strict with our products, and are building up the supply behind the scenes to fulfill the large demand (without cutting any corners). We do things differently around here and you all are excited about it!
At this point in time we are not able to accept new CoOp memberships. Please know we are working diligently behind the scenes to increase supply in order to meet the growing demand.
By joining the waitlist you will be first notified when we are accepting new memberships.
When will membership open up?
Spring and summer, 2024. (soon!)
Do you ship to my location?
Since we stray far from the mainstream, you won't find our farm-fresh products at your local grocery store.Instead, we sell online and ship directly to your door.
We ship to all 50 states in the United States.
What is there a membership?
The membership is $1 for the first year. A private membership association is like a special club where people join together because they share a common interest, belief, or goal. This group is private, which means it's not open to everyone – only those who become members can be a part of it.
By joining the PMA you gain access to the highest quality food - as we do all the vetting and product creation for you.
This PMA is for YOU - as you are a part of this entire process, and we create and provide products for your interests. This helps create a close-knit community where we are all interested in sourcing the highest quality food you can find!
Thank you for joining us along our goal of creating an alternative food system! (One that actually supports health)
What products do you sell?
🧀 Raw A2A2 Cheeses (made without Pfizer's lab made rennet - the healthiest cheese you can find!)
🥩 100% grass-fed, needle-free beef, lamb, and yak
🐖 Low PUFA pasture-raised pork
🐔 Low PUFA pasture-raised chicken
🥛 Raw A2 dairy (cow, sheep & goat)
🐕 Raw pet food
🍜 Gut-nourishing bone broth
🍞 Traditional sourdough (loaves, cookies, English muffins, waffles & more)
Plus more exciting projects behind the scenes :) We are building an alternative food system!
Will you be offering *insert product name*?
We are adding a lot of products over the next few months!
The inventory bulletin is the best place to check for when products will be back in stock/when new products will be added. This CoOp is for YOU - our goal is to be your one stop shop so you don’t have to spend time checking out at a ton of different websites.
Who are your farm partners?
We have spent the 2 last year meeting and vetting local farms to help us provide you with the most nourishing foods you can find anywhere. And we have super high standards.
Ashley meets and visits the farms every single week to check on the animals and make sure our farm standards are met. We have also done the product development ourselves to ensure the final products are top notch.
We are more than happy to bring you to any of our farm partners if you are ever in the area - we have nothing to hide. Also, be on the lookout for some more behind the scenes videos where we will show you all of our farm partners (like the one we made for where our raw goat milk comes from!)
What makes your goat milk unique from everywhere else?
Two main reasons why our goat milk is one of a kind:
- All dairy goats require a supplemental grain while on the milking stand (you cannot find 100% grass-fed goat milk). Most people use just non-GMO (not Organic) feed that contains high PUFA ingredients (like sunflower, canola, soy, etc. - yuck!) We were not happy with any of the options so made our own custom feed that is delivered to our farm partner every single month! It is organic (no pesticides that are used on non GMO) and low in PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids), free of corn, soy and other high PUFA ingredients.
- Our goats spend their time on pasture and are regularly rotated to a fresh patch (many others just live in a barn with access to a single pasture). A more diverse forage intake leads to higher nutrient levels in the milk. (ref)
Here is a video of how the goats live.
Why is shipping expensive?
Truth is, there is no free shipping! UPS and FedEx charges us to ship your box based on box weight, plus we pay for the boxes, compostable cooler box liners, and ice packs. We are doing our best to make sure we cover our costs and keep the price reasonable for you. This may change over time as we finalize our shipping contracts and optimize our shipping methods and shipping materials.
What are delivery fees?
This will vary depending on your location relative to us, in Southwest Michigan. Many people have been ‘Amazoned’ with the concept of free shipping. The truth is, there is NEVER free shipping. And shipping perishable food items (with ice and proper packaging) is NOT cheap! We must pay for all the ice packs, boxes, and packaging- and we must pay for the box to be shipped through FedEx or UPS. We try our best to keep this shipping price as low as possible so that you can order from all 50 states!
However, for orders over $249, there is a flat rate shipping fee of $25. (Even though it will cost us close to $40-50 to ship!)
Is there an order cut off date?
We ship out Monday - Friday of each week. In order to give us time to pack orders and print labels, we ask that you place your orders by Sunday at 11:59 pm ET.
How will my order be packaged?
Products are carefully packaged in a compostable cooler and safe ice packs to keep your food fresh even if you’re not home when we deliver. Please unpack your order on the day it arrives. Any freshly thawed items can either be refrigerated or refrozen for later use.
Will my meat arrive frozen?
Our meat is flash frozen at the peak of freshness and individually packed in eco-friendly insulated boxes. We include ice packs during shipment to ensure it remains frozen. Our goal is to always get the products to you frozen. However, during the warmer months, we cannot guarantee that every cut in your box will remain completely frozen. Your meat may arrive frozen, partially frozen/partially thawed, or completely thawed.
In accordance with USDA Freezing and Food Safety Guidelines, meats that are refrigerator cold and/or partly frozen can be placed into the freezer for later use. There is no food safety issue for meats that come in refrigerator cold to partially frozen, just place them in the freezer upon arrival and enjoy later. The meat should be cold to the touch when it arrives.
You should, however, discard any meat that is above 40 deg F. If any of your items don’t meet our guidelines, please let us know so we can make this right. (support@nourishcooperative.com)
Is there an order minimum or maximum?
There is no order maximum, but we do require a $50 order minimum.
When will my order be delivered?
You will receive a tracking number via email when your order is shipped. You can expect your package to arrive in 1-3 days, however the tracking number email will help keep you updated on your package location.
EGGS
When will eggs be available?
We sell our unique, one-of-a-kind, late tested Low PUFA corn and soy free eggs on our sister company's website: Angel Acres Egg Co.
By joining the waitlist here, you are first notified when eggs are back in stock. We are working hard behind the scenes to EGGspand the flock!
How old are the eggs?
We promise that the eggs are laid within the last 7 days. Did you know store bought eggs can be over a month old? No thank you!
How Can You Ship Eggs Without Refrigeration/Ice?
We ship our eggs unwashed, so our eggs arrive to you in the state they were laid, as nature intended.
Before a hen lays an egg, her body creates a thin, invisible, protective layer called the “bloom” over the shell. The bloom seals the thousands of pores on the shell, protecting the egg from bacteria getting inside. When eggs are washed, the bloom is removed, leaving the egg pores open to potential new bacteria. Eggs in stores are washed using harsh chemicals such as chlorine, enzymes and other detergents (no thank you), and then coated with mineral oils to reseal the pores.
Since we leave the natural bloom intact on our eggs, we do not have to worry about temperature control or sanitization issues when shipping, and we can ensure that the eggs arrive in a safe and healthy condition at your doorstep.
How long will the eggs last?
Even though unwashed eggs can be stored at room temperature, if you don’t plan on using the eggs right away, we recommend refrigerating your eggs upon arrival to drastically increase shelf life! Unwashed eggs stored in the fridge have been shown to last more than 3 months.
What do you feed your chickens?
In order to improve the nutrition of our eggs, we created our own custom chicken feed, which is an Organic, Low PUFA feed that contains no corn, no soy, and no high PUFA ingredients such as flax seed, sunflower seeds or seed oils. Our hen's have access to fresh pasture daily where they forage on bugs and grasses, plus they receive meat and organ scraps every single week, as well as our organic food scraps (fruits, vegetables, and more).
How are your eggs different?
Most chickens are fed feed that is full of corn, soy, and other high PUFA ingredients. A diet high in PUFA results in higher levels of PUFAs present in the eggs, in addition to the presence of other common allergens (corn, soy). Many of our customers were previously not able to consume eggs. But our eggs are different!
Since the types of fat and nutrient levels in eggs depends on the chicken's diet (Woods, 2009), our eggs are low in PUFA, nutrient-dense, and DELICIOUS!
We have the only low PUFA tested eggs out there - so our eggs have the healthiest fatty acid profile you can find.
Our eggs contain 55% less PUFA and 62% less Linoleic Acid than the typical non-GMO, pasture-raised eggs, and 60% less PUFA and 70% less Linoleic Acid than 'Cage Free' eggs. For example, 4 Angel Acres eggs have only 1 g PUFA vs. 4 conventional eggs have 4 g PUFA! What our eggs do contain is higher levels of vitamins and minerals, bioavailable protein, plus healthy, mono & saturated fats.
What does low PUFA eggs mean?
We had our eggs tested and due to the hen's unique diet, they contain significantly lower levels of Polyunsaturated Fats (PUFAs) relative to other pasture-raised and cage-free eggs. This means our eggs have the healthiest fatty-acid profile you can find - low in unstable, polyunsaturated fat but high in healthy monounsaturated and stable saturated fats, plus fat soluble vitamins. Meaning more of the good, less of the bad.
The type of fat in an animal’s diet impacts the type of fat in their own fat tissues, and thus the fat that YOU eat - you are what you eat, eats! Something that makes our products unique is that they are lab-tested to be ‘Low PUFA’ - meaning low in Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids.
There are three types of fatty acids: saturated fat, monounsaturated fats, and polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs).
PUFAs downregulate our metabolisms, and are very unstable and dangerous compounds. Evolutionarily, humans consumed very low PUFA diets (1-2% of our total calories). With the advent of vegetable oils and massive increase in corn, soy, sunflower, flax and safflower crop production - there has been an increase in our own PUFA consumption. We now consume over 10% of our calories from PUFAs! Largely from vegetable oils and high PUFA eggs, chicken and pork products (since pigs and chickens are now fed high PUFA diets).
Unfortunately, 99.99% of feed out there is high in PUFA ingredients. We were not happy with these options so WE MADE OUR OWN FEED, low in PUFA, that is used at our own farm and ALL of our partner farms (we have it made at a mill, and then we coordinate the delivery to ALL partner farms).
Our products contain less of the bad fats (PUFAs) and more of the good fats (saturated fats) - to support optimal health and metabolism, as Mother Nature intended.
To learn more about why excess PUFA consumption is harmful, tune into this podcast with our very own Dr. Ash and Dr. Chris Knobbe.
How do you raise your chickens?
Our chickens forage outside in sunlight with fresh air and fresh pasture. Regular coop moves results in a cleaner living space, increased access to fresh bugs and grasses, as well as improved fertility of our fields (not to mention, better tasting eggs!)
Do not hesitate to reach out to support@nourishcooperative.com with any additional questions :) Thank you for your interest and being a part of changing the food system!