The Seedfolk Store, By Paul Flesichman

Combatting food deserts is not an easy task, however that does not stop some communities and its members from bringing urban agriculture to life. According to a local community member, a food desert is a geographic area where affordable and nutritious foods are difficult to obtain, particularly for those without access to a car. Food deserts can often be located in rural and urban neighborhoods where access to affordable, healthy food options, such as fruits and vegetables are limited or non-existent because grocery stores are too far away.
The Seedfolk Store is a business incubation under the supervision of ProsperRochester, Inc, a non-profit community engagement organization in the Southwest area. The name “Seedfolk Store” was inspired by the novel Seedfolks by Paul Flesichman, which explores a diverse cast of characters who transform an empty lot into a community garden. These characters came together in order to try and make a difference for themselves and their neighbors. It follows from the motto that it is very hard to escape from poverty
when you do it alone, but when you gather together as a group it is easier to conquer. This essentially describes what The Seedfolk Store is striving to do for the Rochester food desert problem.
The Seedfolk program aims to reach and serve those in the SouthWest Rochester area through its main channel, their very own brick-and-mortar located at 540 W. Main St. This venture is specifically focused on recruiting youth in the city of Rochester as an employment opportunity and a way to learn how to grow, produce, and sell nutritious foods. The goods sold are provided to walk-by commuters, ethical consumers, eco-consumers, and even entrepreneurs who lack the resources to get started. The goal is to retain customers, so that they eventually become loyal “regulars.” The Seedfolk Store strives to create as well as maintain specific types of relationships with their customer segments. Through the staff’s personalized service, it makes it so that customers are comfortable with getting involved within the store. The staff is people who are well versed with the Rochester community and have a need for educating and influencing their customers. In addition, The Seedfolk Store works with underrepresented youth who are inspired and empowered to become entrepreneurs one day. This is done through the mentorship and guidance provided through the resources provided at The Seedfolk Store. The types of customer relationships created at The Seedfolk Store are clearly maintained long-term because the store is run through community youth workers.
The Seedfolk Store is a social enterprise producing commercial and impact value for the Rochester community.
It provides an entrepreneurial influence for youth to come together and learn skills to better their community. The store also sells a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as locally made granola from Small World Food, herbal teas from Hallelujah Teas, handmade soaps, and healthy packaged snacks. In addition to growing their own produce, they also encourage that people in the community make use of their greenhouses by growing their own produce. This allows neighbors to act as managers for these greenhouses in addition to collaborating as a community. The Seedfolk Store also has a shared kitchen, which allows for community members to start catering or similar businesses of their own. This is in addition to their efforts to engage and employ youth in low-income neighborhoods in Rochester,
NY.
While The Seedfolk Store does sell products, which helps it remain cash positive, they also directly benefit the community through various ways. As an official SWEM (South West Ecumenical Ministries) Food Cupboard location, they donate food bags to eligible participants based on their annual gross income. In addition, The Seedfolk Store makes it easier for community members to figure out their healthcare situation. SouthWest neighbors typically would have to go to the Downtown Rochester area, which is not convenient and requires them to transport themselves there. Fortunately, Naomi, there Fidelis Care representative, is stationed at the store for two hours every Friday and provides affordable healthcare options based on needed coverage, income bracket, and number of members.
The Seedfolk Store’s mission is to keep youngsters in urban neighborhoods out of trouble, while providing them with specific knowledge that can help them excel and thrive in the Rochester community. The garden that is run by the Seedfolk community is planted and entirely worked on by the youth of that community (i.e. Southwest area). It is a strategic way to engage youth to come together and make a change; it is also a way to keep them active in the Rochester community. While they do this, they also help out at the store where the freshly grown nutritious goods are sold. Through doing this, they learn a lot about entrepreneurship and what it takes to start a business and run it as well as all of the work that occurs behind-the-scenes. This then influences and inspires them to go ahead and create something that makes them feel passionate. Thus, giving them the ability to grow with their creation and the experience to be gained from this is invaluable.
While this venture is not-for-profit, the daily activities are that of any normal company. They received their not-for-profit status this past January, so financial statements are not yet available for analysis. One of the very important concepts that we discussed in class was that even though a business can be not-for-profit, they must still remain cash positive if they want to keep a successful business running. Helping the community and combating food deserts are noble deeds, but without being cash positive you cannot sustain the business. This results in a failed business and a lack of useful resources to successfully help the community. Initially, The Seedfolk Store was very organized with its finances. They started out as an incubator and within the first year, they became self-sufficient. They have implemented the store-within-a-store concept where they rent out their kitchen to community members who are advocates for nutrition education, but lack the funds to open their own businesses. This venture helps the store pay off rent and utilities. The Seedfolk Store rents out their facility for $25/hour and offers discounts for cooks who rent the kitchen for extended periods of time. Cooks are required to bring their own supplies, but they do have the option of renting supplies there if they wish. Once they finish their nutritious cooking, they are allowed to sell their food at the store because of an established food permit agreement. This is addition to being able to sell their food at local flea markets. An example of a successful entrepreneurial story, as a result of The Seedfolk Store’s initiatives, is a girl by the name of Philomena, whom started making healthy meals and offering them to the community. Due to the immense success that came her way from her cooking, she is now in the process of opening her own shop next door to The Seedfolk Store. This shows us how what started as a venture to help out the community has gone a long way to inspiring people who have become entrepreneurs and taking risks to better their lives, while still helping the community. In addition, there are the teenagers who earn their own pocket money by cooking with friends at The Seedfolk Store after school and then taking their creations to flea markets during their time off from school. This experience is not only educational, but also rewarding and shows the importance of providing the necessary resources for community members.
While the Seedfolk Store’s main resources stem from its customers relationships, it does itself possess several resources. Apart from the store, the group’s most valuable resource is the highly motivated staff that it employs. Eleanor Coleman who previously worked for the SouthWest Area Neighborhood Association, which inspired her to start her own company. Lisa Barker is also a member of The Seedfolk Store and is a very motivated individual who has been working to better the Rochester community ever since graduating from RIT in 2008. Ms. Barker is also currently a member of the SouthWest Area Neighborhood Association and therefore has connections with local leaders through this. She has also been working for the past few years with the Horizons Student Enrichment Program at the Harley School. In this program, Ms. Barker and her colleagues teach elementary school students how to grow and prepare produce. The staff is very experienced and knowledgeable with regard to the Rochester community and the issues that it faces.
As The Seedfolk Store transitions into ProsperRochester, Inc., they have attempted to build a self sustaining conglomerate of businesses through different channels in the Rochester community in order to improve both food access and literacy of underrepresented youth. Specifically, the Seedfolk City Farm consists of two separate greenhouses, one located at the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence on South Plymouth and another on East Main St. These are multi-site urban farming operations that engage youth through project-based learning. At these locations, community leaders such as Lisa Barker and Eleanor Coleman use hydroponic gardening techniques to insert fresh foods into these food deserts. They double the utility of this venture by teaching kids from the community how to grow food in this efficient and sustainable manner in hopes that they will be able to either work at these locations in the future, or more ideally, start their own community greenhouses.