Photo: Shari Small/WBZ NewsRadio
MANCHESTER, N.H. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A longtime canner in Manchester is fighting the city for his pickles.
Daniel Mowery has been canning his spaghetti sauces, jams, and pickles since he was a child with his grandmother. His pickles have become quite popular, but they won’t be found on any store shelves.
“I always give them out to friends and family. When I'm producing them, I post them on my social media site,” said Mowery.
The eight-hour process Mowery goes through for these pickles can take a lot of effort. When someone offered to buy a jar on social media, the city decided to step in.
“Someone says, ‘I’ll buy some,’ I said, ‘Yahoo! A cash customer,’ that’s all it took, it went right to the city,” said Mowery.
The Manchester Health Department sent Mowery a letter of cease-and-desist for his canning, stating that he requires a New Hampshire Homestead License. While the license is not required for some food, these rules are exempt in Manchester.
Mowery decided to fight for his pickles and is clashing with the city to allow homestead food items in Manchester.
“I was like, ‘You got to be kidding me!’ So now, since the city did this to me, it's all-out war,” said Mowery. “Keep on canning, and don’t let [the] city take over, we will fight this, and we will win. So, in the long run, we’ll be back to having bake sales and cookie drives.”
Mowery is planning on taking his battle to the State House to remove the homestead exemption in Manchester.
WBZ NewsRadio has reached out to the city of Manchester for a comment.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Shari Small (@ShariSmallNews) reports.