Have you noticed how many tech start-ups are interested in food these days? We have. There are dozens of apps that deliver food right to your door (either by a human being or sometimes even by a robot) and you can order take-out, groceries, or partially prepared meals with a few taps on your phone.

At the Sustainable Economies Law Center, we support creativity and innovation in many ways, one of which is to uplift homemade food enterprises. So, it wasn’t easy to come to our decision to not support AB 626. AB 626 is a bill that was drafted at the behest of tech company executives and lobbyists to prioritize their interests above the interests of home cooks and consumers. After being stalled for several months, the bill passed a vote of the full Assembly in January and will soon be up for a vote in the Senate Health Committee.

A while back we asked ourselves, who can make policy? Our answer: EVERYONE! 

That's right! We're looking for a Bay Area resident interested in a full-time position (which we define as 30 hours per week), to join our dynamic, democratic, and delightful organization. 

By Christina Oatfield, Policy Director //

Have you noticed how many tech start-ups are interested in food these days? We have. There are now dozens of apps you can use to order food to be delivered to your door -- either by a human being or sometimes even by a robot. You can order take-out, groceries, or partially prepared meals through apps. And, as we’ve previously written about on our Food News Blog, there are now on-demand pick-up and delivery apps for homemade food. We are worried about what this means for home cooks, eaters, and the broader food system.

By Julia Watts for CBS SF Bay Area

Excerpt: Christina Oatfield, of the Sustainable Economies Law Center, says she’s all for giving home cooks more opportunities to use their skills.

“There are so many people who have an interest in selling homemade food,” Oatfield said.

But she wants those who do the actual cooking to get a bigger share of the pie, not the third-parties enabling them to sell.

By Julie Gilgoff, Legal Fellow //

While billion dollar development companies eat up affordable housing units throughout the Bay Area, dedicated teams of organizers, nonprofit service providers, community development corporations, and others fight a relentless battle along side and on behalf of those at threat of displacement. Some are seeking to transform the current system of land ownership, removing profit incentives, and assuring that the land is used for the benefit of longtime community residents.

2017 was a rough year, but communities continued to come together and build people-powered economies. We want to share the work we did this year at the Sustainable Economies Law Center, and give you a few reasons to stay radically hopeful!

Below is our 2017 Annual Report highlighting the progress we've made toward a more democratic and equitable economy. (Click the image below to see a full-sized PDF!) All of this was accomplished in deep partnership with people and groups JUST LIKE YOU! Here's to flying far together in 2018 and beyond. 

By Simon Mont, Organizational Design Fellow //

How can nonprofits and movement workers committed to social transformation embody the change we want to see and become more effective, accountable, and equitable as we do it? In late September 2017, thirty-eight people from eighteen different organizations based in ten different states came together to answer this question and learn how to effectively govern, manage, and coordinate their organizations. Over three days, the gathered organizations each contributed to training, knowledge sharing, and relationship building to prepare the soil for a vibrant community of support for these organizations and more long into the future: it was the beginning of the Nonprofit Democracy Network (NPDN).

A team of worker cooperative members, stewarded by the Sustainable Economies Law Center, successfully amended California State's worker's compensation law in favor of worker cooperatives. The law, SB 189, includes a provision that allows cooperatives to claim exemption from workers' compensation requirements under certain conditions. SB 189 was signed by Governor Jerry Brown last month and will go into effect July 1, 2018. 

Three years ago we set out to make it possible for communities to own their energy. And boy did we run into some strange things along the way!

Before introducing those peculiarities, first some background: If people could own their energy, they’d be more secure - both financially and infrastructurally. We could save money and increase our ability to bounce back after natural disasters by producing clean, decentralized energy in our own communities. If ordinary people could put their money toward renewables, instead of investing in fossil fuels on Wall Street, we’d also speed up our response to climate change.

Sacramento, California – Yesterday, Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation that would require California officials to focus on and address the challenges facing farmers of color in the state by making access to state and federal resources more equitable. This comes at a critical moment as the current generation of farmers is retiring and new farmers are increasingly represented by people of color, including immigrants and refugees.

If we don’t want our organizations and movements to replicate the oppressive power dynamics of the dominant culture, let’s design for the power relations we do want. This week, we are incredibly excited to host nearly 40 people from 17 social justice organizations from across the country for the three-day launch of the Nonprofit Democracy Network - a community of practice, organizational development training program, and peer support network for nonprofit organizations that want to deepen democracy within their organizations and make our movements for justice more participatory, responsive, and leaderful.

The Sustainable Economies Law Center (Law Center) is proud to be a sponsor of ComCap17, a national conference on community capital being held in Monterey, CA, September 10-13, 2017. Leaders and changemakers in the community capital movement will come together in Monterey to discuss and share knowledge, tools, and strategies for harnessing the collective wealth of a community and increasing access to capital.

Check out the conference schedule to see all of the exciting and timely topics on the conference agenda. For example, our Executive Director, Janelle Orsi, is a keynote speaker and will talk about The New Meaning of Equity, and our State Policy Director, Christina Oatfield, will be participating in a working group titled Why California Doesn't Have A Crowdfunding Law? Let's Make it Happen. Janelle and Christina will both be participating in a panel discussion on Financing the Legal Food Economy-Farms to Fisheries. And that is not all--the Law Center is holding a Community Capital and Legal Cafe, modeled off our popular Resilient Communities Legal Cafe, during which participants will have an opportunity to chat with us about raising community capital for their community-based or cooperative enterprise ideas.

We are excited that so many of our collaborators and supporters are scheduled to be there too, including: Marco Vangelisti, Founder of Essential Knowledge for Transition; Kim Arnone, Brian Beckon, and John Katovich from Cutting Edge Capital; Michael Shuman, Economist, Author, and Law Center Advisor; Arno Hesse, Founder of Credibles, Amy Cortese, Author and Founder of Locavesting.com; and many more.

Feeling inspired to hear and connect with this jam-packed schedule of speakers? Come join us in Monterey, CA, September 10-13, 2017.

Get 25% off the full conference pass when you purchase your ticket HERE!

By Christina Oatfield, Policy Director //

After the 2008 economic recession, banks were more conservative about lending and the general public was more aware of the flaws in our financial institutions and related regulations. Since then, small businesses, start-ups, nonprofits, investors, and ordinary folks with modest savings have shown growing interest in fundraising strategies such as crowdfunding, crowdinvesting, direct public offerings (DPOs), and community capital. These strategies all involve raising money from a large number of supporters, through donations or investment dollars from the business owner's friends and family, customers, and members of the broader community who want the business to succeed. Community members who have a personal interest in or see the value of a local business are often  willing to take more risk or a more modest return on their investment than would a financial institution or investment professional who seek to maximize profits above all else. This is just one reason why beginning farmers might find community capital attractive.

Even if you have plenty of hobbies, you might want to consider adding this one: Making policy. Our studies show that spending even a few hours per month shaping local or state policy can significantly improve the health and happiness of your local community. Sustainable Economies Law Center has a whole project dedicated, more or less, to this slogan: