It can be incredibly hard to make a living growing food on a small-scale, and incredibly hard to find healthy food you can feel good about on a modest budget. These are among the greatest cruelties of our industrialized food system.

Equality & Profit-Sharing

Because every worker is collaborating on every aspect of the business, from day-to-day workplace decisions to major financial debates, it would only makes sense that they receive the fruits of their labor. Instead of a single owner profiting off the backs of many workers, many workers have the ability to profit off of our own labor. Every worker is entitled to an equal share of the profits of Local Sprouts no matter what work they do. From dishwashers to line cooks to administrative coordinators, everyone receives an equal distribution.

Consensus & Cooperation

In many restaurants, workers are given little say over their work environment. Everything from schedules, customer interactions, menu items, sourcing details, and more is dictated by a distant or autocratic owner. At Local Sprouts, we’ve carefully implemented a consensus-based, cooperative business structure that grants every worker an equal voice in the goings-on of their workplace. Even big decisions must receive unanimous approval from all worker-owners to move forward.

A Safe Space

Because we hold ourselves to this standard, we also expect our community to abide by the boundaries of our safer space policy, which is posted and available in the cafe´. Our safer space policy mimics the safer space policies of other cafe´s and venues around the world and clearly delineates what we consider to be unacceptable language and behavior. We’ve instituted these policies in a concerted stance to make our cafe´ and our workplace accessible to as many people as possible.

Anti-Oppression & Mutual Care

Local Sprouts is grounded by a culture of anti-oppression and mutual care. We make every effort to be vigilant about oppressive behavior and oppressive work dynamics, taking particular care to resist the cultural environments that make kitchens and restaurants unsafe places for oppressed groups, like trans people, queer people, women, and more. Many workers point out that our workplace is exceptional in comparison to the more combative, violent, and openly oppressive kitchens they’ve worked in before.

Local Food & Fair Prices

The extra work necessary to build and maintain a local, seasonal menu is often solely in the realm of possibility for fine-dining establishments with high-priced menus, not everyday cafes and bakeries. We strive to support both our local growers and our customers with fair prices and a deeply held commitment to sourcing absolutely as many products as possible from Maine growers, producers and distributors, while maintaining a menu that is accessible — to our farmers, to our workers, and to our community.

Our Local Farmers & Suppliers