Kensington Grows, Cooks, & Blogs: An Interview with Mike Richards of KCFC

By Matt Hilferty

Interfaith Philadelphia launched the Crafting Community Project in Kensington in Fall 2020. Through this neighborhood-rooted art and education initiative, we collaborated with organizations, faith communities, and neighbors to launch the Kensington Grows, Cooks, and Serves, a multi-part series exploring the intersections of food, faith, and culture within the Kensington area. One component of this initiative is a blog interview series highlighting Kensington-based restaurants and grocers who demonstrate understanding, community-centeredness, and the celebration of diversity. This week we sat down with Mike Richards from Kensington Community Food Co-Op (KCFC). 

KCFC Introduction: Kensington Community Food Co-op is a mission-based organization created to sustain a thriving, healthy community, a vibrant cooperative economy, an active and engaged membership, and a community educated in social, economic, and food justice.

1. Tell us a little about your business. (e.g. Where are you located? When did you open? What do you serve/sell?) 

I’ve been with the co-op for the last 4 years. Kensington Community Food Co-op has been in this physical space (Coral Street and Lehigh Avenue) for a little over two years. It opened in April 2019. But the project itself has been going on since 2009, as a bunch of community members coming together to have a say and access to healthy food in the neighborhood. It then grew into the idea of a food co-op. 

The difference between a food cooperative and other co-ops is this happens to be a consumer-owned co-op, meaning there are members-owners that shop here and help with business decision-making. It is a member-owned community grocery store. We have almost 1,500 members, which is very exciting. 

We focus on selling local produce and products to support local businesses in any way that we can. So, we carry a larger percentage of local food; certainly local produce when it is in season. But we also try to carry some staple items and groceries. The emphasis is on working with a lot of local vendors and with farms in Lancaster. Even the construction on our building was done by a local construction group. 

2. What inspired you to get involved with this business? For example, did you grow up eating this type of food at home and decide to share it with the community? 

I’ve been in the food business for about 25 years. I worked at Whole Foods for a long time, even back when it was Fresh Fields. I moved from Whole Foods into the co-op movement about 10 years ago. I think what inspires me about food co-ops is that, unlike most other businesses that talk about local products as a buzzword, we really work within the neighborhood. It is not a bottom-line-driven business. The money goes back into the business, whether it be physical improvements for the building, towards the staff for higher wages, training for staff, and development. Or, it gets paid back out to the members of the co-op. So, we’re not here to generate money, the money stays in the neighborhood and gets reinvested into the neighborhood.

3. What values are important to you and your business? 

I would say: honesty, integrity, and transparency. I think we try to be transparent and honest with where our products come from and the workings of our co-op with the staff, community, and member-owners. That is the biggest thing. 

4. In what way does your business help foster understanding and promote community relationships?

Through the process of building this business from the ground up, we have to be involved with the community. This includes getting involved with council members and other businesses that are invested in the neighborhood. The sheer number of people we have met that live and work in the community that want to understand our business and support us is great. 

As I said, we partner with local businesses. Our Shop Local program gives members of the co-op discounts at other small businesses in the area. During the pandemic, when gyms and other small studios could not operate, we opened up our parking lot and outdoor patio to DanceFit and yoga studios and allowed those businesses to come here, free of charge, to continue operating their business. We are all about helping to support the community and the small business network. 

5. Why do you believe that sharing food and eating together is an important practice? How is it related to sharing culture, faith, and community? 

Everyone has their own recipes, their own ways of preparing food. It’s a great way for families to sit down together at a table and talk about their lives. But, it’s also a great place for friends to sit down and connect. Cooking food together, especially when it comes from a tradition that isn’t your own, can help you learn how delicious food can be and it gives you another way to appreciate culture. 

Especially from folks coming into the co-op, we hear so many stories about different ways to prepare veggies, like sweet potatoes, and recipes that include some of our local products. When folks come in, they sometimes ask, “What do I do with this?” Like paw-paws. We have them right now and a lot of folks aren’t sure how to prepare them. It is sort of crazy to folks that this fruit is being reintroduced in a place where it is indigenous. 

6. What do you love most about living/working in the neighborhood? 

The thing I like most about the neighborhood is the sense of community. One of the things I like about the co-op and what it represents is the push for the community to become stronger and more sustainable. We don’t see that same thing in every neighborhood. Here, people are involved in neighborhood and zoning meetings. People are more engaged than in other places. 

It is a lot easier to mobilize and engage the community with four walls and food on the shelves. Financing is hard for a community-owned business, so it takes a lot of perseverance to keep the business going. A big thank you goes to the community members that came together to bring this place into existence and keep this network of local food going.