Establish a social enterprise in your neighborhood
Many communities lack access to healthy food, grocery stores, and shopping centers. Known as food or service deserts, the repercussions of a lack of access impacts every part of residents’ lives.
Establish a social enterprise that sells basic need items or provides essential services at an affordable price to address basic need scarcity in your community. This socially-focused business has an added benefit of employing individuals from the community.
To get started:
Survey the larger community where you serve to identify gaps in services or essential items.
Research and connect with social enterprises such as those listed below to discover best practices for funding, partnership, business plans, and growth.
Best Practices / Innovative Programs
Mandela Grocery Cooperative is a full-service, worker-owned cooperative grocery store in Oakland, CA. They offer fresh and healthy produce, meats, eggs, dairy, bread, prepared meals, and personal care products from local entrepreneurs and farmers. Founded in 2009, Mandela Grocery Cooperative was the first grocery store on its street since the 1960s. On their website, they link to resources to help people learn about the worker cooperative model and how to start one.
Appetite for Change, based in Minneapolis, MN, trains community members in urban farming, food preparation, leadership, and job skills. Their restaurants, catering services, and food business incubator improves access to healthy food and provides pathways to the workforce or business ownership.
