WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The Upper Valley Haven has permission to turn on its stovetops again, following a decision by the Hartford Zoning Board on Wednesday to allow the nonprofit to cook food at its facility for its to-go meals program.
The board, following a 30-minute deliberation in nonpublic session, voted unanimously to permit on-site cooking as part of the Haven’s food shelf and food distribution program, which provides food to nearly 20 food pantries in the Upper Valley and serves as many as 90 visitors per day at its facility on Hartford Avenue.
With Wednesday’s decision, the Zoning Board reversed its previous ruling on June 8, which had denied permission for Haven volunteers to use its facility’s kitchen to cook hot meals for distribution to the community, a program the Haven adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to increase food access.
At a meeting in June, the Zoning Board raised concerns about the Haven’s Grab and Go program, which distributes pre-made, ready-to-eat meals for pickup at its food shelf on Hartford Avenue, as well as a food pantry located at Moms in Recovery, an addiction recovery program operated by Dartmouth Health. Some board members worried that distributing meals at the Haven would increase visitors to the site, creating traffic and public safety issues. Board member Tom Franklin also said he wanted more information about whether food was being safely handled.
The Zoning Board had asked the Haven to resubmit its application with more detailed definitions of the food shelf and food distribution programs, which did not specify “cooking” as a function of the operations at that time.
“I didn’t have any problem with cooking per se,” Zoning Board Vice Chair Chris Lowe explained Wednesday. “But when it came up at the (June) meeting, it didn’t really allow us time to consider what was involved.”
The Haven has since amended its master plan to include the expanded program definitions, which were approved by the Hartford Planning Commission in July.
While some to-go meals are made by volunteers at their homes, Haven Director Michael Redmond said some volunteers prefer to use the Haven kitchen for convenience, since the pantry is stocked with donated food items. Many Haven volunteers also like to use the pantry items to mitigate food waste, as many donations, such as vegetables, are perishable.
Volunteers said that incorporating the pantry’s donations into healthy meals is not only a creative way to reduce food waste, but it helps educate pantry users on ways to use unfamiliar foods.
“In my experience as a volunteer, I myself have learned to use vegetables that I had never known how to cook,” said Megan Culp, of White River Junction.
“But there are a lot of vegetables in the pantry that people don’t know what to do with. But by providing this program, they come in and see a vegetable on the food shelf list and they remember that they had that recently in their to-go salad. And they decide to get it.”
Some Zoning Board members said they were primarily concerned about the Haven pantry “turning into a de facto soup kitchen,” which they felt was not the intent of the food shelf.
Redmond said he does not expect serving hot meals such as soups or stews to change how visitors use the food shelf or the numbers of visitors. The number of meals prepared will remain about the same, but people will be able to have a warm meal instead of a cold sandwich or salad.
The meals are intended for people to take home with them, Redmond said, though some individuals may consume the food on the Haven property, whether in their car or in the parking lot. While the Haven does not offer sit-down dining for visitors, some people to finish their food on-site because they lack the resources to reheat the meal later.
Board member Alice Maleski expressed concern about people staying on the property to eat.
“When you go to the supermarket and get a hot chicken, you don’t take it to your car and then sit there and eat it,” Maleski said. “You take it home or (somewhere else). You don’t eat it in the parking lot.”
Cynthia Dale, a neighbor of the Haven, told the board that she passes the Haven regularly on her daily walks but has never witnessed any problems caused by people using the Haven food pantry.
“I don’t find the clients of the Haven are disrupting my life in any way or are in anyway fearful,” Dale said. “The people I see are very friendly. I say good morning and they say good morning, just like anybody else.”
The Zoning Board’s decision comes at an opportune time for the Haven. Earlier Wednesday the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a grant award totaling $88,000 to the Haven to fund upgrades to its kitchen, as well as help toward the purchase of van with a refrigeration unit, which the Haven uses to transport perishable food items to area food pantries.
Redmond also told the Valley News that the funding will help the Haven purchase a new stove, as the one used by the food shelf program needs to be replaced.
“We needed to see what would happen at the Zoning Board meeting first,” Redmond said.
Patrick Adrian can be reached at 603-727-3216 or at padrian@vnews.com.