Michael Moore's Focus a Good Thing for Bay Area Co.

Standing out for all the right reasons

The mere mention of the name Michael Moore would make most companies quiver but for a Bay Area bakery, it's a boost.

Petaluma's Alvarado Street Bakery is featured in Moore's newest documentary, "Capitalism: A Love Story" but for all the right reasons.

In his latest work, the controversial filmmaker takes a deep look at what's behind the global economic meltdown and blames corporate greed for the financial crisis.

Alvarado Street Bakery was picked to show the alternative to the typical big business model. The worker-owned cooperative, motivated by "Food for People not for Profit" movement in the San Francisco Bay Area, started in Santa Rosa in 1979 and now leads the nation in the organic bread market.

Moore's field producer and researcher, Cory Fisher, told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that they chose the bakery because, "They're successful, their workers are able to make a living wage, they seem empowered and happy and you just start to look around and wonder, ‘Why aren't other companies doing this?"

The bakery's president, Michael Girkout, says they're proud to be featured in the film, "It's newfound notoriety for something we've been doing for 30 years."

"Capitalism: A Love Story" opens across the country Friday.

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