ROOT was born out of a shared love for good food between 5 friends. 

 

We have been friends since 2016, and some of us since childhood; but in 2020, we became a family. 

 

In March of 2020, we were all sent home from our various colleges and leaned on each other for support during this strange time. We spent our quarantine together - surfing, camping, and playing poker, but what we loved most was cooking and sharing a meal together

 

When we walked through our grocery stores, we saw empty shelves and surged food prices. We started to question if grocery stores, which were always a constant privilege in our lives, were as secure as we believed… We realized that our current food system, which we are inextricably dependent on, is our biggest vulnerability. 

 

If we continue to rely on industrial agriculture - a system that degrades and destroys the environment, produces nutritionless foods, and is susceptible to global crises… life will look a lot like Interstellar, but without Oscar-winning Mathew McConaughey heroically flying into space to save us. 

 

Something needed to change. We wanted to eat food that was sustainably sourced, nutritionally dense, and supported our local economy. 

 

This led us to primarily buy our food from the few farmers’ markets that were open at the time. But we struggled to find where these markets were, when they were open, and what they were selling? 

 

As we discussed the inaccessibility of our local food sources over Alejandro's famous 7-hour bolognese… it clicked.

 

Why don’t WE create a platform that connects communities to their local food sources?

 

A week later, driving back from the surf mecca, San Onofre, we coined the name “ROOT”. We were all in. 

 

Sent back to our schools with the determination to start ROOT, we held weekly Zoom meetings to work on our business plan and prepare for our return to Los Angeles. 

 

After 2 years of working at jobs in agriculture, graduating from college, and starting our lives as young adults, we launched ROOT. 

 

Follow us as we grow as a family and a company and join us in living rooted 

 

 -Nick, Neil, Diego, Sophia and Alejandro