With Love Community Market and Café began almost eighteen months ago as a vision. Today it is much, much more than that. Over the course of that time, we have encountered many unexpected things, both blessings and challenges. Here’s our top ten list:

#10. It’s not easy to source locally:

Locally-sourced produce is key to many of With Love’s goals, but in our urban context, the handful of urban farms and producers in the immediate area aren’t nearly enough to consistently supply a market like ours. Today our definition of local has been to include reliable and sustainable suppliers throughout the greater Los Angeles and Southern California area.

#9. People are genuinely nice:

Entering the social enterprise arena, we expected a competitive tension-filled arena where newcomers were treated with suspicion. But groups like LA Food Policy Council and the Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corporation proved us wrong by being invaluable advocates offering us help and support.

#8. Homeboy Bakery makes ridiculously good chocolate cupcakes:

We have made use of the Homeboy Bakery for catering for several sharing events, and seriously, you cannot find a more rich and delicious cupcake anywhere else you go.

#7. We have been an example to others:

Our time has been a whirlwind tour of sharing with non-profits, social enterprises, churches, close friends, and acquaintances. We’ve found that our sharing has triggered the entrepreneurial spirit in others, who are now eager to pursue their own projects to help the community. We hope to continue being a positive example that can encourage and advise them down the line.

#6. There are some really weird foods out there:

While visiting different farmers markets, we’ve made great connections with potential suppliers. We’ve also discovered some very odd foods we never would have thought existed. Check out the Romanesco Cauliflower (initially dubbed the “fractal cauliflower”) that we found during a tour of the Terminal Market in Downtown LA.

#5. People are running with the vision:

Our store has yet to launch and already other people are envisioning for us what the future might hold. More than one group hopes that we can help create a food co-op in the future and the notion of a food truck also seems very popular. We are taking this one step at a time, laying down the foundation before moving onto other projects, but the fact that others have caught the vision and run with it is very encouraging.

#4. Rules can be very inflexible:

Often we’ve found that the very rules and regulations created to help a group or community end up hindering it. This can range from strict parking restrictions imposed by the city on potential real estate locations to unspoken regulations keeping organizations from contributing to our project. Without someone willing to interpret the spirit of the law rather than the letter, these rules and regulations can themselves become obstacles.

#3. Find a location is hard:

We knew that finding a suitable location in an urban poor neighborhood would be challenging, but the sheer amount of absenteeism from landlords unwilling to maintain and market their properties, as well as the general apathy towards abandoned storefronts and empty lots can often be demoralizing. We have gained a little momentum, but the challenges are still there.

#2. People are truly interested in healthy, local, and organic food:

The upshot of doing the market survey was that we gained some surprising insights about our neighborhood. We discovered that economically disadvantaged groups already had an interest in buying healthy, local, and organic food. In fact, the results showed that the economically disadvantaged (a group that comprises the majority of our neighborhood) were the most likely group to buy such foods, granted that they were sold at reasonable and affordable prices. Very encouraging!

#1. We have received widespread support at all levels:

We expected support from food advocacy groups, like LA Food Policy Council and Your Local Hive, as well as our local body of faith (Church of the Redeemer), but we’ve also received support from various groups we didn’t expect, ranging from urban ministries (World Impact), to social activism groups (Social Justice Learning Institute, CLUE CA), cafes (Rose City and Dulce Café), communities as far down as San Diego (Penasquitos Community Church), and many many more.

All in all, we have been pleasantly surprised a lot in this process and challenged at every turn. But we still feel blessed to be on this ride!