City Hall: Fresh Choice Manchester up and running at 'full speed'

Oct. 23—FRESH START MANCHESTER, the city health department's initiative to close the geographic gap between some residents and corner grocery stores, is "up and running full speed."

Twelve percent of Americans don't have enough access to fresh food, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. They live in areas known as "food deserts" — neighborhoods more than half a mile from a grocery store.

Families in these areas often must shop at corner stores, which can mean limited options and few healthy food choices such as fruits, vegetables and meats.

The "Fresh Choice Manchester" initiative is a partnership between the health department, half a dozen corner stores and the Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success's Fresh Start Farms program.

"Fresh Choice" is part of the Manchester Healthy Eating Active Living initiative, which is trying to improve access to healthy foods and neighborhood walkability to local stores with healthy options.

Six area corner stores are participating:

—Uncle Bob's Superette, 435 Kelley St.

—R&E Grocery, 304 Merrimack St.

—Hillsborough Market, 519 Lincoln St.

—Namaste Nepal, 215 Lake Ave.

—Dollar Deluxe One, 334 Union St.

—Al Basha International Market, 333 Valley St.

The selection process for the stores involved initial outreach to 31 SNAP retailers throughout Manchester to gauge interest, gather information on current food offerings and identify challenges store owners faced.

MHD completed 22 store observations, and six were selected. The remaining 16 stores will be placed on a waitlist for possible future expansion of the program.

City health director Anna Thomas said it's critical that "our city's residents have better access to healthy food options."

"With the colder winter weather arriving, many families will face additional challenges to access the larger grocery stores," Thomas said. "These six corner stores are helping to improve access to healthy and culturally appropriate food throughout our city's neighborhoods and where our residents need them most."

Fresh Start Farms makes weekly deliveries of locally sourced, fresh, affordable, culturally appropriate food selections to each store.

As part of the program, the city's health department will have food demonstrations and offer recipes for meals that can be made with the fresh food items being sold in each corner store. These demos also include basic food and nutrition education.

The five-year program is supported by federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act. Money will be used to upgrade the stores to ensure proper handling and storage of fresh foods and set up a food hub for the purchase and delivery of local farm fruits and vegetables.

If the pilot at the six selected stores goes well, city officials say the plan is to roll it out to other stores around Manchester.

Help for disconnected

Mayor Joyce Craig's office released a letter she sent to the Public Utilities Commission arguing for adjustments to their winter disconnection policy.

Craig urged the PUC to implement a moratorium on utility shut-offs between Nov. 15 and March 31. Currently, from Nov. 15 to March 31, an electric utility may not disconnect a customer's service:

—If the customer does not use electric service for heating and has a balance of less than $225;

—If the customer does not use gas service for heating and has a balance of less than $125;

—If the customer has electric, gas or steam heat and owes less than $450.

With energy costs rising, these balance limits may be hit in just one or two payment periods, leaving many residents in Manchester and across New Hampshire vulnerable to disconnection.

"In light of energy rate increases and the inadequacy of current policies to protect customers from winter disconnection, my office is advocating for a total moratorium on utility shut-offs for non-payment during the winter period from November 15, 2022 through March 31, 2023," Craig wrote in her letter. "This change would assure that Granite Staters are safer during the winter, a time of greater financial and physical vulnerability for our residents."

Craig is urging eligible Manchester residents to apply for fuel assistance funded by the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and administered locally by Southern New Hampshire Services. In addition to fuel assistance, eligible residents can apply at the same time for electric assistance, also administered by SNHS.

Benefits range from $304 to $3,024 and are based on monthly household income and annual heating costs. This program is open to eligible renters and homeowners, and benefits can be applied to the electric and gas utility bills, as well as deliverable fuel such as oil, kerosene, propane, wood or coal.

Residents who may not be eligible but who are experiencing financial hardship are still encouraged to call SNHS. Those behind on electric or gas bills can apply for a payment plan through their utility provider to avoid service disconnection by calling their provider:

Eversource, 844-273-7760

Liberty, 1-800-833-4200

Unitil, 1-888-301-7700

NH Electric Co-Op, 1-800-698-2007

Parade to return

City officials announced Manchester will host the Downtown Holiday Parade on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 4 p.m., following the BASC Santa Claus Shuffle at 3 p.m.

Organizations interested in participating in the 2022 Holiday Parade can register here at https://forms.gle/JErtTk5EhxiQNhsu8.

"I am looking forward to joining all of our participants at this year's Holiday Parade," said Alderman Bill Barry in a statement. "I want to thank our great city for coordinating this event, and I am hoping that it will be even more successful than last year."

"The Holiday Parade is an opportunity for Manchester to attract visitors from outside the area who might consider moving here or starting a business in our great City," Jodie Nazaka, Manchester's economic development director, said in a statement. "We look forward to kicking off the holiday season with a boost of economic energy in our downtown."

Paul Feely is the City Hall reporter for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. Reach him at pfeely@unionleader.com.