Graphic by Tamra Carhart

When is a store more than a store? When is food more than food? Advocates of the food co-op movement know stores have the potential to offer more than indifferent aisles stocked with items from distant plants and slaughterhouses. Grocery coops provide food grown and made nearby by partnering farmers and producers. They lift neighborhoods up by reinvesting in the community. The best become hubs of economic solidarity and radical inclusion.

When is a store more than a store? When it’s a cooperative, a partnership and a collective.

By definition, cooperatives are businesses owned by members. After purchasing shares in a food co-op, members participate in decision-making and reap the benefits. Profits go back into the community rather than into the pockets of unaccountable owners or shareholders. Everyone is welcome to shop, even without becoming a member. While massive consolidation in the food industry has led to more consumer dollars going to fewer corporations and more billionaires, food co-ops empower members with votes, jobs and healthy variety.

Over 30,000 cooperatives operate in the U.S, providing nearly 2 million jobs and 350 million memberships, according to the USDA. Though western MA boasts many food co-ops, Greater Boston has been without one since Central Square’s Harvest Co-op closed in 2018. Despite enormous challenges presented by the pandemic, that is about to change. Three co-ops are in the works in and around Boston. Two of these, the Dorchester Food Co-op and Assabet in Maynard, plan to open this summer. A third, Charles River, is busy signing up members, planning and fundraising.

In our era of extreme economic concentration, the acquisition of Whole Foods by Amazon is not the biggest story. The 1990s and 2000s saw Walmart go from selling no groceries to becoming the largest food retailer in the country. Kroger owns 23 grocery store chains. Ahold Delhaize of the Netherlands owns Hannaford, Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Giant, Peapod, Fresh Direct and others. And you probably didn’t know that Trader Joe’s is not independent—it is owned by German giant Aldi (Nord).

Co-ops, on the other hand, aim to put people over profits. As Marcos Beleche, president of the board of Dorchester Co-op, explains, “This is a model that is based on a solidarity economy and creates a model for sustaining resiliency in our communities in a unique way.”

DORCHESTER
When I arrive for a site visit in Dorchester, General Manager John Santos is talking with board members Jenny Silverman, Apolo Catala and Elnora Thompson about a hard-to-find fruit called the pawpaw. Pawpaw’s two-week local season, John explains, means they rarely appear in stores. Elnora and Apolo recount halving and eating them with a spoon. Such extensive experience with a fruit most have never heard of speaks to the agricultural and food industry expertise in this group. I wonder, what incredible produce might I find when the co-op finally opens?

That expertise (and remarkable perseverance), has seen the Dorchester initiative through years of planning, fundraising, outreach and, now, construction. Partnerships with the Urban Farming Institute, OASIS on Ballou (managed by Apolo) and Nightingale, Dorchester’s largest garden (coordinated by Elnora), as well as Boston Area Gleaners, have helped the coop through difficult times. Despite pandemic-related inflation and delays, they have raised enough money not only to open, but to subsidize a considerable number of memberships. Beleche notes, “We are building a strong group of member-owners and a supportive community that has given beyond their own costs so others can get subsidized memberships.”

COVID exposed the fragile nature of Dorchester’s food infrastructure. Over 25% utilize SNAP benefits. Many experience food insecurity, and the pandemic saw chain grocers unable to get critical food to the area, all while food prices and the overall cost of living increased.

“A lot of us are asking the question, ‘Where can I participate in the decisions that affect our lives?’” says board member Sarah Assefa. “And that’s why the Dorchester Food Co-op is special, because everyone’s gotta eat and everyone can join … and everyone who joins the Dorchester Food Co-Op has got a vote … We’re excited to see food for people, not just food for profit.”

As described in a Summer 2020 Edible Boston article, Dorchester was slated to open in 2021. Then the pandemic realities set in. Now after 11 years, the doors are close to opening. Over 2,200 members strong, Dorchester Food Co-op draws enthusiasts not only from Dorchester but Roxbury, Mattapan, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain and Roslindale. The store sits in the heart of the community and will focus on serving everyone. Staff members will wear name tags listing the languages they speak.

Jenny Silverman, one of the original founders of the co-op, reflects on the community’s current attitude: “I think there’s a realization that business as we know it isn’t really working and people are open to an alternative.”

The Dorchester Food Co-op, currently under construction in their street level location on the corner of Bowdoin and Topliff Streets, plans to open early summer 2023.

ASSABET
It’s been a similarly long road to opening for the Assabet Co-op Market, which launched their steering committee in 2012, incorporated in 2013 and will finally open later this summer. Like the Assabet River, which runs along the back of their Maynard store, the Assabet co-op team has had to adapt to natural and human-made obstacles along the winding 10-year journey.

Touring their site, now well into construction, General Manager Sam McCormick notes, “COVID and the war in Ukraine decimated the industry.” They’re referring to supply chain issues and cost increases, specifically the difficulty accessing steel, used in all grocery refrigeration. McCormick, who has experience in construction management, also managed Philadelphia’s Mariposa Food Co-op 15 years ago. Back then, McCormick says, you needed 500 members to open. Now you need 2,000. Massachusetts has some of the highest real estate costs in the country and they found and lost a site before landing on 86 Powder Mill Road.

Board President Leah Ciappenelli recounts the curveballs thrown at them by COVID. “It’s going to cost more, it’s going to take longer, it’s going to be not everything we wanted it to be.” And yet, they persevered. “The board has this internal fortitude. This is going to happen. There is no alternative. We will not fold and after 10 years say to the community ‘Oh, just kidding.’ Now we are at 2,200 members. The groundswell keeps going.”

Assabet’s vision to become a community hub and a source of support for high- and low-income members alike aligns with Maynard’s 2020 Master Plan, “Exploring Downtown as a Food, Culture and Entertainment Destination.” Approximately 20 miles west of Boston, Assabet members hail from Maynard, Stow, Boxborough, Acton, Lincoln, Sudbury and Concord.

As Ciappenelli sees it, “The thing is a grocery store, but it’s not really. It’s about community reach and a community belief. And that’s why I got involved when I did, around the pandemic. I needed to get involved in something where I was going to feel hope in humanity.”

CHARLES RIVER
The Charles River Food Co-op took root in the hole left by Russo’s, the beloved Watertown market that closed in 2021 after almost a century. “The fact that it was closing and there wasn’t a community store open kind of broke me,” says Nick Quaranto, president of Charles River’s board. “I needed a way to channel the grief of losing this store into something real. It turns out I wasn’t the only one feeling this way.”

Quaranto started sharing information about a food co-op on social media, discovered a lot of interest and soon formed a board. That board is now working on outreach, fundraising and understanding Massachusetts regulations regarding cooperatives. They want to understand the needs of the communities the co-op will serve, starting with Watertown, Waltham and Newton, where they hope to find a site.

Though still at the early stages—their membership drive launched in June of last year—momentum has been astonishing. At the standard co-op share rate of $200, they already have over 650 paid members. Quaranto explains that whether it’s because they are older and were involved in other food co-ops in the ’70s or because they are younger and appreciate the benefits of a robust sharing economy, people understand this model and know there is nothing like it close by.

“There’s a sense of things not going right in the world, when it comes to climate change or disparities of wealth … and I think coming out of the pandemic people want to do something about it. The food co-op seemed like a perfect opportunity to put ourselves on a better path, having local food support workers in a way that is different from large scale stores.”

Board member Benny Lee recalls, “My particular moment was when one of the billionaires decided to send a rocket to space. I was thinking, ‘How can I buy my vegetables there when some of the money is being used to go off the planet?’ It made no sense to me. There has to be a way I can invest my hard-earned money into something that I believe will make the world a better place.”

Having consulted closely with Dorchester and Assabet, as well as The Food Co-op Initiative and the Neighboring Food Co-Op Association, Charles River is managing expectations about their timeline. While they’d love to open in two or three years, they know it could take much longer. In the meantime, they’ll keep signing up new member owners, and bringing the story of the co-op revolution to residents of Middlesex County.

Co-ops bring people together, creating a solidarity rather than an extractive economy. We can all take part in our local food system. Advocates call it democracy at work, believing cooperatives help communities become more healthy and resilient. Soon Dorchester, Assabet and, at some point in the future, Charles River, will give Boston area residents a chance to experience that for themselves.

dorchesterfoodcoop.com
assabetmarket.coop
charlesriverfood.coop

EDITOR’S NOTE: In the printed version of this story we inadvertently used incorrect pronouns when referring to Assabet’s GM, Sam McCormick. We regret the error and send our apologies to the entire Assabet team.