Farm Store Offers 24-Hour Self Service

Codman Community Farms in Lincoln, Massachusetts, has developed a “self-serve farm stand” – a store that’s open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In this video, Jess Myles, the farm’s Education and Outreach Manager, talks about the store’s self-serve checkout system and how being open for hours each day with no staff present has been a marketing boon by developing customer loyalty and trust.

She also addresses the challenges of the system, ranging from the possibility of theft to insurance. She was speaking during a 2023 tour of the farm, which was part of an Armed to Farm training for veterans presented by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT).