Local. Collaborative. Designed for wellbeing. This is the better economy we can build together.
Fair compensation. Transparent pricing. Shared infrastructure. Collaborative business models. Community investment that stays in the community.
Many thriving local systems, connected as a network.
These are design principles we can put into practice together. Some of the pieces already exist here, and we can build the rest.
WHAT WE CAN BUILD TOGETHER
The Broader Vision
Most small businesses are constrained by the systems they operate within. Those systems often reward extraction over fairness, scale over quality, opacity over transparency.
Together, we can build different systems:
technical tools that make transparency practical
shared infrastructure that makes small-scale operations viable
business models built around collaboration between interdependent entrepreneurs
community investment mechanisms that keep money circulating locally.
The goal isn't to build one large organization. We want to connect many small ones, in part by developing the tools and infrastructure that make a deeper kind of collaboration possible. Then it can make sense to stay small and specialized, and also be part of something larger. That larger network can offer the strengths that usually come only with size: shared systems, steady customers, and buying power. And it's something we shape and own together. Whatever works here can be shared with other communities too.
We're at the beginning. Some of what's described on this site is already operating. Some is being built. The rest is waiting for people who want to help bring it to life.
STARTING WITH FOOD, STARTING HERE
Why Food, Why Here, Why Now
Every community needs food. It connects us to the land, to the people who grow and prepare it, and to each other. It's also one of the most broken industries in our economy — chronic undercompensation, a lot of waste and environmental impact, and prices that hide what food really costs and where the money goes.
Santa Barbara is a good place to try doing food differently. Our climate produces food year-round. Farmers and local businesses have been building food culture here for decades. Many of us care about where our food comes from. And there are talented food professionals here who deserve better than the industry currently offers them.
So food is a good place to start. The opportunity is here, the need is real, and there’s enough infrastructure in place to begin. Many of the same ideas apply well beyond food, so the possibilities only expand from here.
Much of what’s in place started with Loca Vivant Kitchen — a dedicated gluten-free commercial kitchen. In 2025, its gluten-free bakery sales grew nearly 18%, mostly through word of mouth. The baker earned a living wage through a model that was a proof-of-concept for how revenue sharing could work if the bakery were one department of a larger operation with more chefs and bakers. The bakery gave us a glimpse of what could work if we put the broader concept into operation.
WHAT EXISTS, WHAT’S BEING BUILT, WHAT NEEDS YOU
Where things stand
WHAT’S HERE TO BUILD ON
Loca Vivant Kitchen has been operating as a gluten-free bakery, with an established client community
Licensed commercial kitchen and small warehouse facility
Production management and inventory systems
Operating frameworks, legal templates, and governance models in development
WHAT WE COULD BUILD NEXT: A LOCAL BUYING CLUB
One possibility is a local buying club: households pooling what we buy, served by a network of local producers and service providers working together. The first group of producers could be a shared personal chef service. That’s a team of chefs and bakers making personal-chef-quality food, with reusable containers and cost transparency. They would become co-owners through a paid apprenticeship program.
This fall, we’ll meet to decide together whether and how to build it. To be part of those conversations, join the buying club project list. More in our common questions.
YOU CAN HELP CREATE THE NETWORK
Chefs, makers and other local businesses could sell through the club. Some businesses could also serve as pickup locations for club members. Experienced professionals in food preparation, operations, marketing or logistics can take on one of the apprenticeship roles and become co-owners. People with experience in business, technology, or marketing could co-own a cooperative that powers the local online shopping experience. And anyone who knows someone who could be right for one of these roles can help by making the introduction.
Other help supports the start-up phase. Some people may mentor apprentices or help fund the first months of the apprenticeship program. Others may help keep everyone in the loop, help the group make decisions together, or step into a leadership role in the club.
Each person decides what to take on. These are still ideas. They’ll come to life through the people who decide to build something together.
“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.”
— Margaret J. Wheatley in “Turning to One Another”
