ROUNDUP: Pappas Spotlights Grocery Affordability, Delivering Relief for Working Families

April 7, 2026

MANCHESTER, NH — As grocery prices continue to climb, Congressman Chris Pappas is focused on delivering real relief for New Hampshire families. In March, Pappas’s campaign for U.S. Senate rolled out the third plank of its Tax Cuts and Lower Costs Blueprint to provide relief to New Hampshire families and small businesses being squeezed by sticker shock at the checkout line.

Last month, Congressman Pappas held a Manchester roundtable to hear how Trump’s tariffs, threats to SNAP, and global instability are driving up costs for Granite Staters. Meanwhile, Nashua Alderman Rick Dowd highlighted Pappas’s plan in a letter to Nashua Ink Link, underscoring its focus on cutting taxes and lowering costs for working families. Pappas is running for Senate to take on corporate special interests, fight back against reckless tariffs, and protect essential programs like SNAP that help families make ends meet.

Read highlights from the Manchester roundtable below:

“Donald Trump’s destructive policies, from his tariff taxes to the conflict in Iran, are raising costs every day. When I speak with folks around the state, they’re doing whatever they can to try to manage it. But all of those increasing bills — from gas to groceries to rent to health care — are being paid from the same pocket,” said Congressman Chris Pappas. “We need an economic strategy that puts workers and middle class families front and center, not those who are already at the top.”

“When you become the father of a two-year-old, you become an expert on the price of berries and bananas,” said Manny Espitia. “So it’s noticeable when what used to be a $60 bill, becomes an $80 bill, and then a $100 bill. I thought, over the last few years, ‘we’re in a really good spot,’ and now it’s just gotten harder and harder over the last year or so.”

“I am almost 79 so I have a fixed income. I live on Social Security and a small pension,” said Sherri Harden. “Every day I think to myself, ‘What are food prices going to be? What is rent going to be? What is going to happen to us as citizens trying to survive?’”

“We have a Brazilian merchant nearby that is just amazing and wonderful. But when we go over there and we talk to the owners, they tell us the same thing, that they’re really struggling,” said Karina Bonilla. “It’s really, really difficult to get our food here because we’re having to order it from farther away, so those ingredients are costing more and that’s difficult. People are just not able to get access to foods that they need and want.”

Manchester Ink Link: Pappas talks about food prices at downtown discussion

By Andy Sylvia / 03.23.26

U.S. Representative Chris Pappas (D-NH-01) on March 23 held a small roundtable event on food prices at Diz’s on Elm Street, a conversation that quickly grew to encompass other cost-of-living issues as well.

Diz’s co-owner Judi Window said that she’s had to adapt as office space in the neighborhood around her restaurant transformed into more residential units, reflecting different tastes and the growing need for housing in New Hampshire. Combine that with rising prices for ingredients for her restaurant’s recipes, and the lack of clarity on what those prices might be in the near future, and it’s a challenge to make sure everything stays steady.

“It’s just uncertain from day to day, moment to moment,” she said.

Manchester resident Karina Bonilla said that she has seen a similar trend in food prices, particularly for specialized foods catering to particular dietary, cultural or religious needs. Many of those foods come from outside of the United States, making them subject to recent changes to U.S. tariff regulations.

She also mentioned the recent discussion in Manchester on school lunch debt, recalling the fear of judgment from her peers when her family needed SNAP support as a child and how even more children now likely have that fear given the rising costs of food.

“People say there are benefits, that it’s not the schools’ job to feed kids, but many of those benefits are inaccessible to average people. There’s also a lot of stigma and shame on relying on them,” she said.

Sherri Harden, a 79-year-old woman at the event, said that she lives on social security and a small pension. Although she did not indicate that she was having trouble with food costs, she expressed fear about recent news she had heard that 1-in-3 Americans are struggling with the costs of food, often choosing between food or medicine or skipping meals so their children can eat.

“Food costs are kind of a core issue that are at the center of our economy. It’s frightening to see the side effects of rising prices every day,” she said.

The other two people at the event were former Democratic state legislators: Heidi Hamer of Manchester and Manny Espitia of Nashua. Hamer echoed Bonilla’s comments, expressing frustration at opposition in Concord to support of the state’s school children and confirming rising food prices from what she’s seen at local supermarkets. Espitia also confirmed rising prices he has seen on food costs as a parent of a two-year-old as those costs combine with rising costs in other areas such as heating oil and childcare.

“This money we thought we could save up, maybe put toward my child’s education, maybe put toward an emergency fund, that money is going away,” he said.

Pappas told the group that he supports suspension of tariffs on agricultural products and a pause on national gas taxes to try and lower costs for average Americans in addition to other measures to build infrastructure supports for food supply chains such as helping people get their commercial driver’s licenses.

Despite the political division in Washington, Pappas believes that work must be done to find common ground to help Americans struggling with rising costs.

“Without a doubt, we shouldn’t be running out the clock until the next election, we can do things right now,” he said.

“Every moment is a chance where we can get something done. We can fight it out in the election and we’ll see how the dust settles, but I think voters are looking for change and a greater focus on an affordable economy,” he added.

Nashua Ink Link: The Soapbox: Chris Pappas fights for affordable groceries, strong communities

By Alderman Rick Dowd / 04.05.26

Here in New Hampshire, we’re lucky to have many long-running, family-owned grocery stores that have served our communities for generations. These independent grocers help keep our local economy strong and make it easy for families to find fresh, high-quality ingredients close to home.

But like many shoppers, I’ve noticed grocery bills climbing higher and higher. Across the country, families are now paying hundreds more each year for basics like meat, produce, coffee, and other staples. A major driver has been recent federal tariffs, which have put pressure on American farmers and made many kitchen staples more expensive to import — costs that add up at the checkout counter.

Granite Staters deserve representation in Washington that understands how these rising costs hit consumers and small businesses first and hardest. That’s why I’m proud to support Chris Pappas for U.S. Senate.

Pappas recently unveiled his plan to tackle the affordability crisis, lower costs, and cut taxes for New Hampshire families. He has also cosponsored the No Tariffs on Groceries Act, which would roll back tariffs on food items and help bring down prices for shoppers while supporting the independent grocers our communities rely on.

Small, family-run stores don’t have the buying power of national chains to absorb rising costs. When tariffs drive up prices, they’re forced to make impossible choices: raise prices for their neighbors or take the hit themselves. Neither option is sustainable for small business economies like New Hampshire’s.

New Hampshire families shouldn’t have to pay more for everyday necessities because of reckless trade policies. We need leaders who understand how rising costs affect both local businesses and their customers, and who are committed to lowering costs across the board.

Chris Pappas has a proven record of standing up to corporate greed, lowering costs for working families, and defending the values that matter most to Granite Staters. That’s why he has my support.

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