The Fresh Start Food Hub in downtown Manchester, NH plays a critical role in growing New Hampshire’s local food movement, including making fresh, local food accessible and affordable for all New Hampshire residents. With the support of Neighborworks Southern New Hampshire, ORIS acquired the building in early 2020. After major renovations, the Food Hub opened just in time for the 2020 farming season and while food insecurity was a major challenge resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The 3,200-square foot, two-story (basement and first floor) facility includes: refrigerated food storage; a commercial kitchen for washing and packing produce; open-format training and meeting space, dry storage, parking for its 30′ Mobile Market and a year-round retail market.
The Fresh Start Food Hub aggregates fresh produce and other local food products (dairy, eggs, sundries, etc.) from its New American Sustainable Agriculture Program as well as dozens of other producers in the region. The Food Hub operates several sales outlets to maximize the income for participating local farmers, while keeping purchase prices accessible to targeted audiences. The Fresh Start Food Hub is also a founding member of the NH Food Hub Network, allowing collaboration among food enterprises state-wide.
Learn more about ways to buy produce grown by new American farmers.
The Fresh Start Food Hub serves a broad range of new American and low-income families throughout the Manchester, Concord, and Nashua regions through its food access initiatives, which bring affordable, locally grown ethnic and “mainstream” crops to areas that do not have ready access to fresh, nutritious food. To support this growing part of our work, ORIS is building a network of Community Food Ambassadors – neighborhood leaders and fresh food enthusiasts who can provide some grassroots-style community outreach to their neighbors about leveraging SNAP/EBT benefits to access fresh, healthy foods in their community.
ORIS’s food access work demonstrates just one of the real, positive impacts that new Americans can have on their communities over time. While ORIS targets new American populations as beneficiaries of its food access work, it is also improving the health and well-being of all neighbors as well. And the farmers in ORIS’s program are providing the crops that make it happen. ORIS is proud to play a role in helping new American farmers improve the overall health of their communities.
Healthy Corners is a Fresh Start Farms Food Hub program that helps expand healthy food access by bringing fresh, nutritious produce and healthy snacks to neighborhood convenience stores. ORIS is piloting this program in partnership with the City of Manchester’s Health Department. Through this initiative, ORIS and the City provide technical assistance, marketing and food deliveries year round to corner stores in areas where food insecurity is greatest. To learn more, contact foodhub@refugeesuccess.org.
ORIS’s Farm to School Program connects communities with fresh, healthy food and local food producers by changing public school’s food purchasing and educational practices. The two-year USDA funded “Farm Fresh Fridays” pilot focuses on four Manchester and two Nashua Schools from July 2021-June 2023. The project will have students help farmers and community gardeners start vegetables that will be grown, harvested and processed into pizzas that the students will enjoy when they return after summer break. The project includes a diverse range of participants and partners; students, teachers, food service staff, community gardeners and local food processors. To learn more, contact farm2school@refugeesuccess.org.
The generosity of our individual donors is measured in the laughter heard from our youth, in the successful job interview, in the nutrition of our farmer’s children, and in the warmth and resilience of our new American community.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and the top of our minds.
Please reach out if you would like to partner with us to bring food access to your community.
