Prepared by: Dania Shor
Updated: 14 March 2008

Website: http://www.peoplesgrocery.org/index.html

Mission:
People’s Grocery is an organization based in West Oakland that develops solutions to the health, environmental, and economic challenges that the Oakland community faces. They do this by trying to reform the food system—developing a self-reliant, socially just and sustainable food system through community based, youth focused, and inventive social enterprise, agricultural projects, education, and public policy initiatives that promote healthy, equitable, and ecological community growth.

Inspiration/History: People’ Grocery was founded by Brahm Ahmadi and 2 others in 2002 because they were upset by the lack of access to healthy foods in Oakland and the effect that that was having on local health and quality of life. The idea was born out of relationships that the founders had with other community members who were developing community gardens (i.e.-relationship with Willow Rosenthal, founder of City Slicker Farms). People’s Grocery originally began its own community garden in partnership with the North Oakland Land Trust, of which Ahmadi is also the Executive Director. Then People’s Grocery decided to expand from gardening and add an education and outreach component which led to the launching of the flagship enterprise of the organization, Mobile Market, or a grocery store on wheels (see “core programs”).

Business Model:
People’s Grocery was founded as a model that integrates education, sustainable agriculture, and the development of local food businesses. Aside from contributing to community awareness and health, the aim is also to create training and employment opportunities for members of the community in order to support a new vision for economic development, based on self-reliance, sustainability, and health.

Theory of Change:
The main component to reach the long term goal of reforming the food system is education. While People’s Grocery has created projects that help increase the healthy food options available in the short run (Mobile Market, farming), a lot of their programs are centered on educating youth, those with the future and power to make nutrition and healthy lifestyle a self-sustaining ideal. It is through hands on experience and learning therefore that community members can become empowered to change their diets and lives.

Core Programs:
In the past 3 years, the organization has established 4 gardens, a 2 acre farm, and numerous education programs and several enterprises. Of these enterprises, they are best known for the Mobile Market. This is a postal service van than was transformed into a moving grocery store that provides organic options and fresh produce at affordable prices. Through the Mobile Market about 3,500 community members have been able to reform their eating habits every year.

People’s Grocery is also running 3 urban gardens and a 2 acre plot on a farm in Sunol. The aim is to increase, grow, and produce food through a network of garden and micro-farms as many low income residents of urban areas like Oakland, no not have access to sufficient fresh foods. Lastly, the organization offers many educational opportunities for youth. The Peer-to-Peer Youth Program delivers peer workshops about nutrition, fast food, obesity, gardening, and organic farming. Every year they also organize the Urban Rootz Food Justice Camp which allows youth from the Bay Area to learn more about organic agriculture and issues surrounding the food system. They also offer free adult cooking classes to promote healthy ingredient selection and cooking knowledge. There is also the Backyard Garden Program, Garden Nutrition Program, and Be-Heal-thy Team which are other programs that promote a healthier lifestyle.

Programs on the whole aim to:
- Educate residents about sustainable agriculture, health/nutrition, food justice
- Provide employment, entrepreneurial business training and life skills for youth
- Develop food-related enterprises and small businesses
- Develop methods of low-cost food distribution and marketing
- Support local family farms, organic farms
- Strengthen ability to produce food locally through urban agriculture
- Advocate for policy changes at the governmental and institutional level

Recent Developments (if applicable):
There are a few programs that are under development and will be ready soon. Recently, ordering organic foods online, in bulk and for cheaper prices, became an option that People’s Grocery provides. Also this summer Agriculture Park will open and give the opportunity to grow lots of local and organic produce while providing jobs to Oakland youth. This a 15 acre farm project in Sunol and People’s Grocery will use this job to create jobs for 5 young people and train them in sustainable agriculture and nutrition. The food grown will also be distributed to residents in West Oakland.

Biography of Brahm Ahmadi:
Brahm Ahmadi is Co-founder and Executive Director of People’s Grocery. He grew up in Los Angeles and now lives in Oakland. He has a B.A in Sociology and is currently a candidate for an MBA at the Presidio School of Management. Brahm combines social enterprise, cooperative economics, urban agriculture, public education and youth development to build healthy and stable inner city communities. He is also Executive Director of the North Oakland Land Trust, which preserves properties in North Oakland for the exclusive purpose of community gardening. Brahm is active in worker-owned cooperative business development and organizing for economic democracy and was a founding board member of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives.

Questions to be Raised During Visit (3-4):
- What has been the biggest challenge in trying to get people to reform their diet?
- How have you managed the tradeoff of selling food for lower prices? Has this been an issue (profit-wise) at all?
- Does People’s Grocery try to collaborate with other community organizations that change the nutrition and health of urban community members?
- Logistically, is getting the agricultural products from Sunol/other farms onto trucks and into the market for consumers to buy a costly process both in monetary terms and in the life span of the food itself?

Further Resources (2-3):
Brahm’s blog: http://www.peoplesgrocery.org/brahm/
Part of website with helpful links: http://www.peoplesgrocery.org/learn.html