Isla Vista Food Co-op

The Isla Vista Food Co-op is Santa Barbara County's only community-owned grocery store. The Co-op was founded over 40 years ago by students and Isla Vistans who wanted to ensure that the community would always have neighborhood access to high quality and affordable food, and that our local farmers and producers would have a dedicated store to sell to. The Co-op is open to the public and participates in many campus and community events to help share resources to make grocery shopping fun and affordable, and most importantly, to keep investing back into Isla Vista so that everyone can benefit from having a grocery store that everyone owns together.We currently run our grocery cooperative in a 3,200 square foot retail grocery space that we were able to purchase in 2013. We have over 30 paid staff, 15 of whom are full-time. Our current sales are about 3.7 million dollars per year. We are in process of building our management collective that will be overseen by the Board of Directors!The Isla Vista Food Co-op is through our operational work a community-owned and democratically controlled natural foods grocery store. Through our mission and vision, we are a resource hub for consumer based food justice & food access programs, projects, and partnerships. We foster our mission specifically through initiatives in education and outreach, both in our store and in the community. As a physical hub, the co-op is a highly-coveted gathering space for the community to meet, where great ideas are nourished and cultivated, friends are made, delicious food is eaten and a community can come together in a safe and non-judgmental space.