*Written March 23, 2016*
Tucked into a corner hallway of Ritter Hall at Temple University is a little-known success story: the Rad Dish Café.
The café is the only student run food cooperative in Philadelphia, and according to the Head of Governance Committee, Rhiannon Wright, it has been open for two full semesters.
Besides being an accomplished student run co-op, this café is unique for being a completely sustainable food system, meaning they only acquire ingredients from businesses that respect the earth and their employees.
The co-op respects the earth by being environmentally friendly and purchasing all of their ingredients from local sources like Common Market and Lancaster Farm Fresh, which are no more than 150 miles away from Temple’s campus.
The café also respects their employees. Being a co-op means that there is no hierarchy in the business, said Wright. A cooperative is a business that is run democratically by its members, so every employee has a say in what the business does.
The co-op has a specific structure. There is a Board of Directors, which consists of a few Temple students who are the heads of each committee. The committees are groups who run specific aspects of the business, such as the Committee of Marketing and Outreach and the Committee of Finance.
However, these are not the only people in the co-op who make decisions and suggestions for the café. “We have an employee who sits on our board of directors,” said Wright, “so his job specifically is to convey the concerns of the workers to the board.”
To get further input from employees, the café also does surveys amongst the staff, said Wright, to see what works for them and what doesn’t. There is also a suggestion box next to the cash register at the café, so even costumers can put in any ideas they have to improve the Rad Dish café.
Although the café has been open for two semesters, Wright said it’s really only been about 6 months of operation because it is not open during summer and winter breaks. However, the Rad Dish already has a steady following of regular costumers, said Wright.
“We’re in this weird random building that you don’t go into unless you either know about Rad Dish or you are in the college of education or social work or public health,” said Wright, “so we have a lot of regulars that are in this building all the time.”
In order to gain more of a following the Rad Dish café has a marketing committee. However, the café does not currently have enough funds to spend a lot of money on advertising.
“All of our profits right now are really just going towards wages and covering our costs and paying back the loan we got to start,” said Wright, so the café has turned to using social media as a platform for marketing.
Wright said Rad Dish café has a decent following on their social media accounts, which helps bring people to their events. On March 22 the café held a clothing swap in collaboration with the Office of Sustainability, and they regularly have open microphone nights, said Wright, as an attempt to draw more people in.
As the co-op grows, the employees keep seeing new faces come into the café as well as their regular costumers. Wright said the café workers biggest concern at the moment is remaining sustainable and continuing to open each year.
“It’s just such a fun and relaxed atmosphere,” Wright said, “It’s definitely something that we all have created together.”
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