Started in 1975 as an offshoot of a “food conspiracy,” San Francisco’s preeminent worker-owned vegetarian grocery store began at a small storefront on 16th Street.
After several moves — the original store is now the home of German beer bar Gestalt — Rainbow acquired their Folsom Street location in the 90’s and has been selling organic foods there ever since.
Today, Rainbow Grocery celebrated its 50th anniversary with a block party highlighting like-minded local purveyors of food, music, skin care, and other products and services. There was even a dog rescue charity, which was a big hit with the younger crowd.
While America’s food landscape may be dominated by giant corporations, it’s great to see that worker owned co-ops can still be a viable alternative. Not only that, but one that has a community built around it; a community big enough to wolf down most of the free samples before I made it out there.
Happy birthday, Rainbow!
