Coos County has the highest food insecurity rates in the state, and the New Hampshire Food Bank is hoping to address the need in the region with a new warehouse in Berlin.

North Country food pantries get most of their products from the New Hampshire Food Bank, and until now that food came in only once a month from a warehouse in Manchester. With the new local warehouse, northern pantries will now be able to pick up food weekly in Berlin.

Sarah Swift at Feeding Hope Food Pantry in Berlin says the weekly pick-ups will significantly increase the food that gets to clients.

“It will allow me to keep my shelves fuller, to offer a better supply of foods to all the different clients,” said Swift. “Right now having to wait for once a month delivery or drive two-and-a-half hours one way to try to go pick up extra – that’s really not feasible.”

The New Hampshire Food Bank says the new warehouse includes fridge and freezer space and can store up to 20,000 pounds of shelf-stable food. Swift says it’s been a challenge to offer clients fresh produce which can go bad quickly. Now she’s looking forward to offering produce that will be stored in the warehouse’s fridges.

“People really are looking for more fresh [food] than they are just canned and boxed items when we can make it available, because it’s healthier for them,” Swift said.

Swift runs the Feeding Hope Food Pantry with her husband, Greg. He noted that with high food prices and lower SNAP benefits, they’re seeing more people come to the pantry for help.

“It’s not just the elderly on fixed income, but it’s also young families – literally mom and dad and multiple children who either haven’t got work yet, or have got jobs that just aren’t paying the bills,” Greg Swift said. “And they have to find a way to put food on the table for their families.”

Christy Langlois oversees the Food Bank’s work in the North Country. With food going towards pantries more regularly, she believes the warehouse can be a solution to the area’s high food insecurity rates.

“We will be able to distribute [food] more efficiently and ultimately help more people. We’ll be able to ensure that no one has to wonder where their next meal is coming from,” said Langlois. “So this is why I say that it’s true systemic change for the North Country.”

The warehouse has a temporary lease in its location on Jericho Road, but Langlois hopes it will find a permanent space. A food drive is open to the public for the warehouse’s grand opening on Friday.