Food deserts and food insecurity caused by rising inflation are growing problem in North Carolina and across the nation. Sowing Resilience seeks solutions to these challenges that North Carolinians face daily as they struggle to feed their families, sometimes having to make the hard choices between buying groceries or paying rent, utilities, or other bills. Food insecurity is a complex problem; it will not be solved by a simple solution, but, instead, must account for the rising costs of housing, transportation, and other factors that play a role in developing food deserts and food insecurity.
Julia Castellano loves baking and sharing food with her community in Wilmington, North Carolina. Ironically, while opening her bakery has been a life goal, she never imagined she would see the dream come to life so quickly. The pandemic presented the perfect opportunity for Castellano to finally pursue this passion project. Nonetheless, Castellano had no idea of the many challenges she wold face, and still does every day, to keep the doors open at Little Loaf Bakery and Schoolhouse.
The bakery property was purchased in 2020, but due to supply chain interruptions during the pandemic and myriad regulations from the city, the health department, and the USDA, it did not open its doors until Nov. 2022. For those two years Castellano sold her product out of a farmer’s market stand at the Wilmington Farmers Market and the Riverfront Farmers Market.
“I was not anticipating the number of challenges that I have and that I still have,” Castellano told the Carolina Journal. “I mean, I will walk-in thinking I’m going to do one thing, and it turns into ten because it’s mostly solving problems. If you decide to own a business, you must know that it’s a literal overtime job, like you’re just doing that as well as whatever you’re doing. So that’s just a challenge in and of itself coming to that realization. My job is to solve problems every day, every second, all the time, because it’s anything.”
Castellano faces challenges every day on a large and small scale. While opening her shop, Castellano had to navigate the multiple rules and regulations on both a state and federal level, not only for opening a business but also for opening a food business, which comes with a whole separate set of regulations to navigate.
There’s no manual on how to open a business., but one bet any new entrepreneur will be navigating a lot of red tape. If you didn’t know, a letter in the mail issuing a fine will usually do the trick, says Castellano, speaking from experience.
“So that was a challenge, just like learning all of the rules and regulations that I had to follow that I don’t even agree with and just have to do,” she said.
Learning To Lead
Castellano spoke about how learning to lead and manage her employees was one of her biggest challenges as a new business owner.
“You have to be authoritative in some ways, but then you also have to teach people and make sure people know that you respect them,” said Castellano. “It’s almost like having children, but not, and I didn’t even think about how that was going to be a thing. I didn’t think about how I’m in these people’s lives now, and they’re coming to me to get paid, but also because they need my leadership; I have to lead now.”
In doing everything she can to get her business off the ground, Castellano has had to stay flexible about her role in the business.
“I’ve had to learn how to lead, which is really challenging for someone that just kind of wants to bake,” said Castellano. “”I want to open a bakery because I want to bake for the rest of my life,” turned into, “I opened this bakery, and now I have to manage people and solve problems, but baking would be fun too if I could just get to that.” So, it’s been a whole challenge of changing roles and what I thought I was supposed to do and understanding that a lot of it’s not personal, and I can’t be emotional about it. I’m a very emotional person. Little Loaf is everything to me; it’s my livelihood. But it’s like so much more than that; it’s not just a job, it’s everything to me.”
Castellano said that her most significant challenges so far have been tackling everything that goes wrong and managing her emotions while helping others to manage theirs.
“Anything and everything that goes wrong, I just have to not be emotional about it, solve it, and at the same time, help others that are emotional about it,” said Castellano. “I never thought I would have a role like that. So that’s probably my biggest challenge, is figuring out how to keep little loaf amazing, and like a place that everybody wants to be in, but also functioning.”
Navigating Red Tape
Castellano spoke about how often the rules and regulations put in place by the USDA and the health department have nothing to do with food, don’t keep us safe, and could potentially causesignificant harm.
“In the food industry, there are rules that limit the things that you can use that they deem as ‘safe,’ that end up actually making a worse product for everybody, and in the long term, probably cause cancer,” said Castellano. “It kind of backfires because it’s supposed to be food safety, but instead of just giving people more fresh things that are handled correctly, we’re giving them more processed things because we have to.”
However, Castellano holds herself to a higher standard at the Little Loaf..
“I just won’t put something on the menu if I’m not allowed,” said Castellano. “To me, it’s counterproductive to making the public healthier because we are limiting the use of fresh ingredients, period. That’s across the board, no matter where you work in food. With that being said, the types of rules that explain why we must do something usually don’t have a good explanation.”
The Schoolhouse
On the schoolhouse side of Little Loaf Bakery and Schoolhouse, Castellano and her staff offer classes to the community on breadmaking, cake decorating, and everything in between. Community members also come in and host classes in their areas of expertise.
When she started her business during a worldwide shutdown, Castellano had to navigate many obstacles she never dreamed she would encounter; and she overcame them. While not without its challenges, she has successfully launched a thriving business and built a team of employees, learning how to lead effectively while following her dream.