Thanks to a grant from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the Upper Valley Everyone Eats model crossed the Connecticut River: Vital Communities worked with Claremont, NH, partners to pilot a program in that city that provided restaurant-made meals to community members.
Beginning March 25, 2021, three participating restaurants (The Hitchin’ Post, Sunshine Cookshop, and The Common Man) prepared 65 meals per week for the Claremont Soup Kitchen, for a total of 195 meals per week. The restaurants received $10.90 per meal ($10 plus a 9% New Hampshire rooms and meals tax) and were asked to allocate at least 10 percent of their ingredient budget to New Hampshire farms and food processors. These nutritionally balanced meals were intended for anyone whose food security had been impacted by the pandemic. The pilot ran for 10 weeks and taught program staff some valuable lessons about how to replicate the successes and navigate challenges that the Vermont Everyone Eats model brings when adapted to other settings.
“The Claremont Soup Kitchen is truly blessed to be chosen to participate in Everyone Eats,” said Cindy Stevens, the kitchen’s executive director. “This program is one more example of how amazing our community is and their willingness to look out for their neighbor. It is heartwarming to know that not only can we provide for those needing food assistance but also those who are struggling to keep their staff working.”
The Claremont program was modeled on Vermont Everyone Eats, a statewide pandemic relief program that operated regional hubs across the state — of which Vital Communities’ was a coordinator for in the Upper Valley. Begun in August 2020 and running all the way to the end of March 2023, Vermont Everyone Eats was funded by the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development and made possible through a grant provided by the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development to Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA). UVEE was a partnership of Vital Communities, LISTEN, the Upper Valley Haven, Willing Hands, and numerous Upper Valley restaurants, social service providers, and dedicated community members.
The Claremont program was also inspired by other programs around New Hampshire that connected restaurants to people facing food insecurity due to COVID, such as Community Kitchen of Keene, Community Meals to Go in Portsmouth, and the Monadnock Restaurant Project.
“This model, this pandemic response, has cropped up around the state, around New England, and the country because it’s so efficient and impactful,” said Lauren Griswold, Vital Communities’ former coordinator of UVEE and the Claremont program at the time of their launch. “With one source of funding, it supports an economic sector and boosts community food security.”
CEE distributed 1,820 meals to 1,637 individuals in 44,658 households. It provided restaurants with $18,200 in income, of which $1,195 went to local farms and food producers.
Updated 5/10/23