Small Steps Create Big Shifts

Some of the biggest changes in Food Oasis have started with a decision that felt small at the time.

When Solomon Dubie and Gavin Amos approached me about investing in the effort to move an entire cold storage facility to our Georgetown location, the idea was ambitious. It required money, time, coordination, and a willingness to believe that the infrastructure itself could create new opportunities for local farmers and food businesses.

We decided to take the step.

That one move gave us something tangible to build around. Cold storage meant we could think differently about aggregation, food distribution, institutional purchasing, and how smaller producers could access infrastructure that would otherwise be difficult or expensive to operate on their own.

The location eventually changed. What began in Georgetown has continued evolving into our work in the International District. But the lesson has stayed the same: progress rarely happens all at once. It happens because someone is willing to take the first step before the entire path is clear.

For Food Oasis, that first investment in cold storage became part of a much larger shift. Today, we are building toward a system that combines cold and dry storage, distribution, a regional marketplace, and stronger connections between growers, businesses, institutions, and communities.

Small steps create big shifts because each step creates the capacity for the next one.

Sometimes building a new food system starts with something as simple—and as difficult—as deciding to move a refrigerator.