After her daughter was injured during the Unite the Right protests in Charlottesville in 2017, Lisa Draine committed herself to racial justice work. Earlier this year, she joined the steering committee for the Charlottesville Food Co-op, which aims to build a community-owned grocery store. The goal is to reinvest in historically Black neighborhoods and build an economic alternative that benefits the whole community.Â
“We want to figure out a way to strengthen the food system, support our Black and brown farmers, create jobs, create wealth and keep our money here. That will help us become stronger as a community,” she said.
In 20 years, Draine hopes that Charlottesville will not only be home to a flourishing food cooperative, but that there will be an ecosystem of cooperatives in central Virginia, from worker-owned businesses to producer co-ops to alternative housing models.
“What I want to see is us being able to switch more to a solidarity economy, so that we are able to support each other and our planet in a more holistic way than the capitalist system does currently,” she said.
Videography and editing by Zach Keifer. Produced by Atlee Webber.
The first step to creating our shared future is imagining it.
For Charlottesville Tomorrow’s 20th anniversary, we are inviting central Virginians to share their visions for the next 20 years.
