MANCHESTER, NH – They’re known as food deserts: Manchester neighborhoods located more than a half-mile from a grocery store. For many families, that distance requires them to do more of their food shopping at the corner store, which can mean limited options and fewer healthy food choices. “Fresh Choice Manchester” will close that geographic gap through a unique partnership between the City of Manchester Health Department (MHD), a handful of corner stores, and the Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success’s Fresh Start Farms program.
This program, now underway, is part of the Manchester Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Initiative – a place-based approach to improve access to healthy foods and neighborhood walkability to local stores with healthy options and recreation destinations. Six area corner stores have joined the effort to provide local families with healthier food options.
They are:
- Uncle Bob’s Superette – 435 Kelley Street
- R & E Grocery – 304 Merrimack Street
- Hillsborough Market – 519 Lincoln Street
- Namaste Nepal – 215 Lake Avenue
- Dollar Deluxe One – 334 Union Street
- Al Basha International Market – 333 Valley Street
“The pandemic compounded the factors that impact people’s health and well-being, including access to healthy food options,” explains Anna Thomas, MHD Public Health Director. “Food insecurity continues to be a challenge for many families in south-central Manchester and on the city’s West Side. This effort will increase the ability of local corner stores to offer healthy options, while our Department conducts a strategic planning process to identify priority long-term solutions to this challenge.”
This five-year program is supported by federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act. Funds will be used to upgrade the stores and provide infrastructure to ensure proper handling and storage of fresh foods, establish a food hub for the purchase and delivery of local farm fruits and vegetables, and complete program review and strategic planning for how to turn this offering into a long-term healthy food solution for families in need.
“Half a mile may seem like a short distance for accessing quality food, but studies have repeatedly shown it is a barrier to health. This program will increase access to fruits and vegetables that will benefit the health of Manchester residents, but also open a new business market for local farms seeking to sell their food,” says Thomas.
Fresh Start Farms will serve as the food hub for the program, making weekly deliveries of locally-sourced, fresh, affordable, culturally-appropriate food selections to each store. The program will work closely with the store owners to create a “healthy section” in each store, as well as provide marketing and start-up materials. Owners will also receive ongoing support with technical assistance and goal-setting with incentives, such as refrigeration and shelving, to encourage long-term commitment to maintaining healthy food options for their customers.
MHD will utilize its multi-cultural, multi-lingual Community Health Workers to engage with neighborhood residents and conduct surveys to further inform the work, including the expansion of food options residents would like to be able to purchase at their corner store. As part of the program, Fresh Start Farms will lead food demonstrations which include basic food and nutrition education, and provide recipes for meals using fresh food items being sold in each corner store.
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 held on a waitlist for possible future expansion of the program.
For more information, please contact Amy Bligh, MHD Community Programs Coordinator at (603) 657-2734 or abligh@manchesternh.gov.