These co-op restaurants didn't need to open indoor dining to survive the pandemic

Baltimore ice cream maker Taharka Brothers is six Black men, worker-owners, who lost most of their business accounts at the start of the pandemic. They saved their business, and their jobs, by starting home delivery and tapping into collectives that help worker-owned cooperatives with financing and business advice. Gratitude for a decent job, good working conditions, and pride of ownership help sustain such a business through tumultuous times.

In service industries that traditionally pay and treat workers poorly, worker-owned cooperatives serve as a humane alternative. Worker-owners at eight co-ops in four states describe the difference their jobs make in their working conditions and their lives. They also tell how larger collectives and cooperatives pool resources to help smaller co-ops with the funding and expertise they need, especially when confronted by a disruptive event like the pandemic.

To save dozens of restaurants in San Francisco during the coronavirus lockdowns, a restaurant owner launched an organization that "provides monthly contracts to its restaurant partners to cook meals for underserved populations." The organization, which has 160 restaurant partners so far, helps fill the gaps left by the government-funded Paycheck Protection Program.

Employees at 7 Yakima Valley fruit packing plants, who are predominately Latinx, went on strike to protest inadequate protection and pay during the Covid-19 pandemic. Agricultural workers accounted for nearly one-fifth of the county’s positive cases. The worker initiated strikes and picket lines were supported by community members, union representatives, and non-profit legal centers. Workers returned to work after gaining concessions on better pay, safety protections, and the formation of worker advocacy committees. The state also issued new workplace safety standards for agricultural workers after protests.

Buying a house with 8 other people, tiny houses, forming a homeowners association to buy land, and community land trust’s are all different options people are taking to find alternate forms of housing that are affordable. “They’ve defined a new American Dream. They hope others will follow their model, if not by making the same choice, then by being willing to look beyond traditional boundaries.”

When the only local grocery store in tiny Walsh, Colorado, shut down, the 600 residents of the town chipped in to re-open the store, combining community financing with traditional business savvy to keep the community institution afloat. Walch's grocery and other rural grocery stores with similar models have overcome the struggle of competition from national dollar stores with the community investment approach, leveraging close local ties to maintain support and funding.

The Nusantra Fund provides financial support directly to community-led projects in Indonesia. The aim is to improve the livelihoods of Indigenous and local people while tackling climate change impacts and protecting biodiversity.

Public banks are owned and run by governments, and because they store money for the state instead of individuals, they can invest back into the communities they serve instead of extracting from them in the chase for profits.

The coronavirus pandemic highlighted the ways in which the food system is broken, but governments, NGOs, and philanthropists are working to address the discrepancies by connecting small-scale farmers of color with businesses that can purchase their produce at fair rates. “For the first time, they felt connected with a real community. For the first time, they felt they were getting paid what’s right for what they’re growing,” a business advisor for one of the operations explains.

Green developement has breathed new life into a once-declining town that suffered from the exodus of manufacturers. A comprehensive 10-year plan revitalized the local economy of Pullman, creating jobs and bringing new manufacturers into its abandoned buildings. Housing, transportation, public safety, and recreation were also part of the plan which was funded by tax increment financing in addition to federal funding and investments from companies located there.