Raven Breads owner Sophie Williams talks capitalism, sustainability, and the impact of Covid-19 on her local, woman-owned business.
Bellingham bakery Raven Breads prioritizes a sustainable and local food system through establishing relationships with other small businesses, sourcing the bulk of their ingredients from local producers and distributors, and product delivery via bicycle.
Their bread also happens to be the most dank that this author has come across in Washington State, I suggest the smoked rye (and the gingerbread is like a hug in bread form).
In the Raven Bread newsletter, you state, “the opposite of capitalism is relationship.” Could you elaborate on what that means to you, both as a local business owner and a private citizen?
“The opposite of capitalism is relationship” is is a phrase I heard the athlete and activist Tamo Campos use once in an interview, and though I’ve long since forgotten the rest of the interview that line has stuck with me. I’m not sure what he meant by those words, but to me they get at the root of our economic failures. Capitalism is built on competition and exploitation. Assigning dollar values to carbon emissions or promoting “ethical consumerism” doesn’t change that underlying fact. I think the opposite of an economy founded on exploitation could be an economy built on relationship, or reciprocity, with the land, with our human neighbors, with the more than human world.
What that looks like practically in a small business is something I’m still figuring out, and will probably continue to figure out for the rest of my working life. To this point I’ve been largely focused on finding shorter, more transparent supply chains for my ingredients because I want to know, or at least know of, the land and people who grow my food. In the future more of my attention may go towards building relationships with my employees, my customers, my local government.
Considering recent studies on soil erosion due to unsustainable agricultural practices and food production, why do you think that a shift to sustainable practices seems difficult to conventional family and factory-scale farmers and food producers?
Yes, we need change at every level, but I think the burden of changing our broken food system falls most heavily on policy makers and consumers. There just aren’t enough farmers left in the U.S. to carry all that weight.
Why do you choose to do everything by bicycle, and is there a relationship between your choice in mode of transportation for Raven Breads in relation to your views on sustainability?
Why do I bike? Because I love it. Because I can. Because for those who can ride them, I think bicycles are the most efficient and enjoyable form of urban transportation. Because I’m frugal and cars are expensive not only in direct spending but also to our physical and mental health, to the health of our communities, to our environment, and to our political system (never mind their cost to the rest of the world).
Have you ever felt gender politics affect you being a woman-owned single-employee business in Whatcom County?
I think being white and college educated insulates me from a lot of discrimination. I may not have a place at the table with the good old boys, but I can at least stand in the room.
Have you felt that your business has been affected positively or negatively in the wave of this recent COVID-19 pandemic, and how?
I’m lucky to have a small, agile business with low overhead, and loyal customers who have continued to support the bakery though the disruptions of the past eight months. I lost restaurant and farmers market business during the early months but gained orders to the bread subscription, which now has self-serve, outdoor pickups.
Is Raven Breads in affiliation with any local groups?
Raven Breads is affiliated with the Bellingham Farmers Market.
You can learn more about Raven Breads commitment to short and transparent supply chains, in addition to their weekly bread subscription (resumes 1/27/21) at ravenbreads.com
(and check out the RB Up Rye Zine Vol. 1!) Raven Breads Newsletter signup link: http://eepurl.com/79Cs9 IG: @ravenbreads