I've used the Doughnut Economics thinking to design The Public Plate - a framework for scaling Public Restaurants that rebuild our social connections.
đź’Ş Purpose
Our mission is clear: widening access to nutritious meals outside of the home, built on our need for social connection and belonging. But the PURPOSE of the Public Plate as an organisation is to enable that to happen, which is why the model starts commercially rather than rely on state subsidy. Public partnership is achieved only if the model proves its value. Designing regeneratively means avoiding dependency on any single body.
⚖️ Governance
We're exploring Steward Ownership (a model we're learning about from PURPOSE®) to separate control from capital to protect the mission long-term. Decision making is kept equitable with Steward representation from all stakeholders.
🤵 Ownership
Ownership shouldn’t be limited to those with wealth or networks. Our franchisees will earn ownership through performance, not privilege, borrowing from Everytable’s Social Equity Franchise approach. The people who create value should share in it.
đź‘› Finance
Patient investment supports the early high-risk stage. A Social Impact Fund then provides low-interest loans to franchisees. As sites repay those loans, surplus capital gradually repays early investors and strengthens the system’s ability to support new operators.
🤝 Networks: Public Restaurants are designed to sit within a wider food ecosystem, working directly with growers. Our central hubs will take on some of the heavier food preparation and processing work, one of the biggest bottlenecks for small ecological farms, helping to support ecological producers and strengthen local supply chains.
What's Next...
We need pilots: to learn whether the operational model holds up and also whether people will genuinely choose Public Restaurants over existing dining habits. If the evidence shows real public benefit, that’s what unlocks partnership with local authorities, and importantly, that partnership could be open to any restaurant willing to adopt the approach.
