Elevation Award Recipient, Community Grocery

Community Grocery, located in the Sandtown-Winchester area food desert, will be a cooperative market focused on improving health and employment for area residents.

Modeled after other cooperatives around the city, such as Baltimore Bicycle Works and Red Emma’s, Community Grocery’s model will allow every employee to have ownership in the business, an equal share in its operations, and voice in the collective choir of change around West Baltimore. Wherever possible, Community Grocery will purchase food from local growers, such as the Black Dirt Farm Collective, and accept WIC to provide residents with local, fresh produce at a price that meets the needs of the community.

The store will also host nutritional classes and help fund local organizations fighting the city’s most pressing issues. With pride, innovation, and a little support from BRED (The Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy), the grocery will bring fresh food, as well as a collaborative model that makes both shoppers and employees stakeholders in rebuilding a healthier, stronger, Baltimore.