Today, the Monadnock Food Co-op is a longstanding hub of activity in downtown Keene. Located centrally, just off Main Street, the Co-op is a favorite local spot not only for groceries and food shopping but also for community gatherings. When the weather is warm enough, outdoor tables are a highly sought-after commodity, with groups of families with young children, students, and professionals on their lunch breaks all gathered onto one patio. Inside, shoppers survey the aisles of groceries on their way to the hot food bar or grab a coffee before heading over to the indoor seating area, where customers form a sea of work laptops, laughter, and conversation.
It can be hard to imagine downtown Keene without the Co-op, especially when it comes to the vibrant crowds it draws on a daily basis. But it’s only been open for business for twelve years—its first day of business was April 3, 2013. And before that, it took seven years for the volunteers and first employees to turn their dream of a central place where community members could buy healthy and locally produced foods into a reality. At the very start, in fact, the Monadnock Food Co-op was just the Master’s Project of two Antioch University Environmental Studies students.
Students Leading a Community-University Partnership
For Bonnie Hudspeth, who grew up frequenting co-ops in childhood, the Master’s Project started with recognizing what Keene as a whole would benefit from a downtown, walkable grocery store and year-round stable market for the region’s many farmers and producers. Hudspeth had enrolled in Antioch’s MS in Sustainable Community Development after working at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. She was particularly attracted to Antioch’s experiential approach to learning that valued community connection and collaboration. She wasted no time in engaging with volunteerism in the greater Monadnock area, where she worked closely with food, sustainability, and conservation efforts, especially through the Cheshire County Conservation District. She undertook many of these efforts in partnership with a fellow Antioch student, Amanda Littleton. With this emphasis on experiential learning both in the classroom and throughout her volunteer efforts, it felt only natural for Hudspeth to explore a more community-based project for her Master’s Project. She says, “I didn’t want to write a thesis that would sit on a shelf. I wanted to do something that would actually make a tangible difference.” So she started looking for projects that could make an impact in the community. “The story of the Co-op is one that was really from the community, where all co-ops come from,” she explains. “Co-ops arise from unmet shared needs in the community.”
It also felt natural for Hudspeth to collaborate with her close friend at Antioch, Katie (Stoner) Hallas. Hallas had also come to Antioch with a passion for community building, sustainability and food accessibility. The two had connected over shared interests and so they decided to collaborate on an action-oriented project in fulfillment of their program requirements at Antioch. Hallas explains, “We did everything together, and it was just a very natural progression to be like, ‘Oh, let’s do something together.’”
This project turned into an early business proposal for the Co-op that emphasized connecting local farms with community members, improving food access, promoting farm viability, and bolstering local community initiatives. But it didn’t end there. Following graduation, a group of community members came together to pursue the project seriously, and Hudspeth became a major contributor to the future Co-op’s steering committee. She eventually became the Co-op’s project manager, a role she held for four years. One of her biggest achievements was leading community organizing efforts to secure the first 1,000 Co-op members before the store’s opening day.
Today, Hudspeth works in Burlington, VT, as an organizational and business developer and community builder. A major part of her job involves supporting the success of co-ops across the country—skills that directly build on the work she did for the Monadnock Food Co-op.
Hallas did not stay in Keene after graduation to work on the Co-op project, but the project has also proved pivotal for her ongoing career. “I think of myself as planting some seeds and just starting to water them a little bit,” she says. “Bonnie is the one who planted the entire garden, laid it all out, tended it year over year, and helped it to grow.” Following graduation, Hallas moved to Ithaca, NY, where she worked on initiatives to improve community sustainability and advance food justice through a variety of roles in local government, higher education, nonprofits, and community organizing. Currently, she leads Tompkins Food Future, a community food system initiative in Tompkins County, NY. This role includes bolstering local food systems through collaboration with community, research, and strategic planning efforts. Her time at Antioch and her work on the initial stages of the Co-op were foundational in building towards the impact she has today. “I feel really connected to and invested in continuing to advocate for food co-ops,” she says. “My time at Antioch was formative.”
An Exhibit That Tells the Story of Antioch’s Impact
For longtime Keene resident and Environmental Studies faculty member Rowland Russell, stories like this one deserve to be remembered and told. That’s why he is curating a large-scale exhibit at the Historical Society of Cheshire County that is drawn from oral history interviews, campus timelines, and alumni success stories—especially those that pertain to businesses and initiatives started in the Keene area. The opening reception of “Antioch University in the Monadnock Region: Celebrating 60 Years of Service” will be held on February 21 from 4:30 – 6 PM ET at the society’s Putnam Exhibit Hall, 246 Main St., Keene, NH.
Russell has spent years documenting the ways Antioch students and alumni have shaped the local community, work that he considers vital in understanding the university’s impact. He organized art exhibits for both fortieth- and fiftieth-anniversary celebrations for the New England campus, and now he is organizing for the upcoming sixtieth anniversary. He is also a board member of the Historical Society of Cheshire County, and this gives him a chance to draw attention to the contributions of Antiochians throughout the region. “Students from Antioch tend to get more involved in the community,” Russell says. “We’re older, we bring a social consciousness. So we see something [in the community], and we roll up our sleeves, and we get it done.”
Russell is an alum of the MA in Whole Systems Design that was offered at Antioch’s Seattle campus, and he received his PhD in Environmental Studies from the New England campus in 2008. He became adjunct faculty in the Environmental Studies program starting in 2004, and he knew both Hudspeth and Hallas as students: Hallas took his environmental literature course, and he worked with Hudspeth on the initial steering committee for the Co-op. Russell sees the Co-op’s success as a good example of Antioch student and alumni excellence and engagement within the local community. “Antioch has so often been involved with the community that people don’t realize it’s Antioch,” he says. “We get involved in the community and make things happen with little fanfare and not necessarily a lot of recognition from the community.”
A Legacy of Good Food and Human Connection
Perhaps it’s no coincidence that today’s Antioch students are still drawn to the Monadnock Food Co-op. It’s a popular spot for students to gather between classes and truly does serve as a meeting place and connection towards the greater community. Although the Co-op is a grocery store by the most general definition, boasting an impressive array of local and organic food, as well as made-to-order sandwiches and prepared foods, it is also a place of connection. Many products are directly from local farmers and food suppliers in the greater Monadnock area, allowing shoppers to go to one central location rather than multiple farmers markets or farm stands in the area. Beyond supporting regional agriculture, the Co-op is also committed to making healthy food options accessible to all community members. The store offers income-based discounts to those in financial need, so all are able to access healthy, natural food options.
It is also no coincidence that the first community solar project in Keene was installed in 2016 at the Co-op, the result of a Collaborative Service Initiative led by ES students Tracey Bartella, Nikki Sauber, Georgia Cassimatis, and Mari Brunner.
For third-year PsyD student Robbie Buoniconti, the Co-op is part of his regular routine—he often finds himself grabbing food at the hot bar with friends. “It’s a very homey place with nice and welcoming staff,” he says. “It’s cool that Antioch is so immersed in the Keene community.”
For Hudspeth, Hallas, and the many other alumni who have shaped the Keene community in quiet but powerful ways, the work they started at Antioch has had a lasting impact. “It’s more than a grocery store,” Hudspeth says. “A co-op is an anchor in the business community. It’s a hub. It’s a community gathering place. And it’s a community resource that is more sustainable because of its cooperative structure, as it’s owned by and accountable to the community. It’s a place where people gather and work together to find solutions to other shared community problems.”
The Co-op and all it represents to the broader community serve as a reminder that local organizing rooted in inclusive community-building can have lasting impacts. “I have learned that we can’t just focus on the nuts and bolts of the work,” says Hallas. “No matter what we’re trying to achieve, if the work isn’t rooted in strong, trusting relationships that prioritize communication, connection and sharing of power, we will struggle to realize the change we desire. This work isn’t possible without human connection.”
