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Community Market is Sonoma County's worker-run, Not For Profit natural food store.  Since 1975 we've provided our community with wholesome, local, organic foods and ethically sourced products.  But we're more than just a store...

 

We are a family of workers committed to serving our community and building a more sustainable future. We're passionate about food! We have a comprehensive product policy, driven by our values and ethics.  We strive to carry only the highest quality and most nutritious products.  

 

Any profits are invested in worker benefits, improvements to our infrastructure, discounts and donations to local community groups and nonprofits, with a focus on our under-served communities.  

 

At Community Market, the workers are the leaders (there is no owner!). We elect representatives from our peers to serve on our Red Clover Worker’s Brigade Board of Directors. Involvement, leadership and dedication to our values is our mission. It’s the way we run our store.  Every day.

 

We invite you to come in and experience the difference our grassroots ethics make.  You'll see it in the quality of our products and you'll see it in our friendly service.

 

About Community Market

Mission & Values

 

Our mission is to create a healthier and more sustainable community by providing local, organic, and socially responsible products and education about nutrition, environmental and consumer issues

 

  • Our values and beliefs define our role as a socially conscious, proactive business in our community:

  • We believe natural foods and products directly promote health and wellness

  • We value organic products and sustainable agricultural practices

  • We value holistic and natural healing practices

  • We believe in fair, ethical, and environmentally sound business practices

  • We believe in providing a respectful and supportive work environment

  • We believe in self-motivation and value personal responsibility

  • We believe in supporting our local economy, community, and culture

  • We value a culturally diverse community

  • We value excellence in customer service

  • We believe in alternative business models which empower workers to engage with and influence their work place

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GLOBAL END

Sonoma County will have a natural food market that provides high quality products while maintaining social and environmental standards that promote a healthy, sustainable community.

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SUB END 1 – Highest Product Quality Standards

  • The organic and sustainable product needs of Sonoma County will be met through Community Market.

  • There will be a Sonoma County venue to market locally produced, organic products.

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SUB END 2 – Social Standards

  • Low Income Sonoma County residents will have access to nutritious, healthy and organic products.

  • Workers of Community Market will attain a reasonable standard of living for Sonoma County.

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SUB END 3 – Environmental Standards

  • Community Market will be a model for sustainable business practices.

  • Community Market will produce less waste than a business of the same size.

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SUB END 4 – Healthy, Sustainable Community Standards

  • Sonoma County residents will have the knowledge necessary to make informed choices regarding food and nutrition.

  • There will be a supportive network for progressive businesses, organizations and individuals in Sonoma County.

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SUB END 5 – Workplace Environment Standards                                     

  • Community Market will have a respectful, transparent and accountable workplace environment in which all worker voices are considered

Natural Foods Gatekeeper Product Policy Guidelines

"Community Market will satisfy the vegetarian, natural food and product needs of its customers, ensuring trust by acting as a gatekeeper". We read the label for you!

​Our product policy is truly exceptional among local grocers. Our selection of products is designed to ensure the cleanest and most sustainable items are available to you.  We strive to know every ingredient in every product before it goes on our shelves. We research ingredients and their origins from potato chips to toothpaste. We give priority to organic, local and environmentally responsible companies and products, using Non-GMO verified products when an organic alternative is unavailable. We do not carry any products with any artificial  ingredients, hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup.  All of our produce is certified organic and if we can get it locally, we will! We are working to highlight all of our Sonoma County products with green price tags. Any “Local” signage applies to products produced within 100 miles of our organization.

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We pledge that products in the following departments will NOT contain:

 

Grocery/Bulk:

- High Fructose Corn Syrup

- Meat that is raised or finished on feedlots, treated with hormones or antibiotics, given feed containing animal byproducts or transported inhumanely (local and organic options will be prioritized whenever available and viable)

- Irradiated food

- Tobacco

- Food or products from cloned, hormone-injected, prophylactic antibiotic treated, or factory-farmed animals

- Products tested on animals

- Eggs from hens in cages

- Bleached white flour

- Partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated oils

- Artificial additives or ingredients

- Unethical labor or business practices

- Companies that use unethical or disrespectful advertising or marketing

- Pet products imported from China

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Produce:

- Non organic items.

- Imported items when domestically produced items are available and viable.

- Non-local items when locally produced items are available and viable.

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Supplements:

- Coral Calcium

- Companies which test on animals

- Companies that use unethical or disrespectful advertising or marketing

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Bodycare:

- Non-sustainable ingredients

- Companies that test on animals

- Companies that use unethical or disrespectful advertising or marketing

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Mercantile:

- Imported items which are not fair trade whenever available and viable

 

Beer and Wine (Sebastopol store only):

- Zero organic options for both beer and wine

- Imported wines which are either not certified organic or for which local options are available

- A majority non-regional beers

 

Deli (Sebastopol store only):

- Conventionally grown produce.

- Meat from animals injected with hormones or given unnecessary or prophylactic antibiotics

- The use of non-organic ingredients when organic options are available and viable.

- Any item prohibited from any other department in the store.

 

The world has changed dramatically since Community Market first opened its doors back in 1975. Some of the small or family-owned companies we’ve carried and supported for years have been acquired by larger corporations, many of whom are not aligned with our organization’s mission and values. This has created a challenge for us as the gatekeepers of product quality and ethical sourcing. As the marketplace shifts we strive to be aware of these acquisitions and educate our workers and customers about ongoing changes behind the scenes in the natural foods industry.

 

These are guidelines for how we handle products/companies when they are acquired by large corporations that do not share our values for ethical business practices:

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  • Move affected products to “less prime” shelf spaces or bottom shelves

  • Research alternative products to offer a more local or sustainable option  

  • Feature ethically sourced alternatives more prominently

  • Educate our workers with updated information regarding changes in the status of companies/products

  • Track product movement on affected products and discontinue items that decrease in customer demand

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Natural Foods Gatekeeper Product Policy Guidelines
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