Wake Robin Fermented Foods, a small company based in the city of East Cleveland, Ohio, is focused on local sustainability. About 90% of its vegetables are sourced from farms in Northeast Ohio; all vegetable waste goes to compost; paper, cardboard and metal is reused or recycled; fermented products are packaged in reusable glass jars. Wake Robin is part of a larger vision to establish a closed loop, community-owned supply chain in the three square miles comprising East Cleveland.
The organization leading the work is called Loiter. Its goal is to address a crisis across U.S. cities 鈥� the devaluation of African American neighborhoods, community assets and gathering places 鈥� through hyper-local, community-driven investment into one of Ohio鈥檚 poorest cities. 鈥淓ast Cleveland has no grocery store, no cafes, no restaurants, no farmer鈥檚 market, no bank 鈥� the belief is that we can build something here from the ground up,鈥� says Loiter co-founder Ismail Samad.聽
鈥淎nd we鈥檙e not building an extractive capitalist city. We鈥檙e building an intentionally regenerative and circular economy that understands the value of place, the environment and people 鈥� and is willing to say we don鈥檛 need to go bigger.鈥�