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Issue Brief

Community Food Security - New Jersey

Scope of the Problem  factual statements on the extent of the problem in the past, current, or future

• Nearly 14% of households in New Jersey are food insecure and will struggle to find enough food this week.  This equates to almost 1 in 8 households – many with children^[1]
• One million people in New Jersey face hunger every day. Nearly 300,000 of them are children. When they don’t have enough food to eat, they can suffer direct and dramatic effects on their physical development and mental well being. ^[2]
• Over 10% of New Jersey’s population struggle with financial security. ^[3]
• Essex County (where the IFPO is located) has the highest rate of food insecurity in NJ at 17%. ^[4]
• 73% of the households CFBNJ serves choose between spending money on medicine or food. ^[5]
• 72% of the households CFBNJ serves choose between spending money on utilities or food. Meaning in the winter, families are choosing between using the heat or eating. ^[6]
• 77% of the households CFBNJ serves choose between spending money on housing or food. ^[7]
• According to the 2018 United Way ALICE® Report (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), there were nearly 40% of New Jersey households living below, at, or just above the poverty level, many working but struggling to make ends meet. ^[8]
• Nearly 17% of NJ’s children are food insecure. ^[9]
• Thirty percent of the children in New Jersey live in single parent families. ^[10]
•  38% of households can't afford basic modern necessities. ^[11]
• 35% of families with children are struggling. ^[12]
• 46% of seniors 65 and older can't make ends meet. ^[13]
•  51% of jobs pay less than $20 an hour. ^[14]
• At the current rate the number of senior citizens with food insecurity is projected to increase 50% by 2025. ^[15]
•  Although it’s one the wealthiest states in the nation, there are numerous areas of Northeast New Jersey where the poverty level far surpasses that of the national average. ^[16]
• Children suffering from poor nutrition during the brain’s most formative years score much lower on tests of vocabulary, reading comprehension, arithmetic, and general knowledge. ^[17]

Past Policy & Program Milestones  key legislation and milestones including significant policy and funding shifts, major studies, etc.

• Community Food Bank Milestone - Last year, the Community Food Bank supplied nutritious food for more than 50 million meals through the network of over 1,000 community partners, including pantries, soup kitchens, mobile pantries, and child and senior feeding programs. 

• Governor Murphy Signed Legislation to Fight Hunger in New Jersey - In 2019, with Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, bill sponsors and advocates, Governor Phil Murphy signed a legislative package into law to combat the hunger crisis and food insecurities in New Jersey.

                    The following bills were signed into law:

• A4702"Hunger-Free Campus Act" (Wimberly, Jasey, Mukherji/Cunningham, Ruiz)— Requires Secretary of Higher Education to establish a grant program to address food insecurity among students enrolled in public institutions of higher education; appropriates $1 million. 

• A4704 (Taliaferro, Murphy, Verrelli/Ruiz, Cunningham) — Directs Department of Agriculture to establish food desert produce pilot program. 

• A4708 (Houghtaling, Andrzejczak/Space, Gopal, Kean) — Establishes Farm Liaison in the Department of Agriculture.

• A4703 (Lopez, Holley, Kennedy/Beach, Cruz-Perez) — Requires Chief Technology Officer to establish "Anti-Hunger Link" for all State websites, providing information on emergency food services. 

• A4705 (Carter, Benson, Mejia/Smith, Codey) — Establishes New Jersey Food Waste Task Force to make recommendations concerning food waste in New Jersey. 

• A4707 (Tucker, Downey, Calabrese/Smtih, Singelton) — Directs Department of Agriculture to establish a public awareness campaign for food waste.

• AJR172 (Downey, Johnson, Holley/Gopal) — Designates Thursday of the third week of September of each year as "Food Waste Prevention Day" in New Jersey. 

• AJR60(DeAngelo, Lopez, Chiaravalloti/Ruiz, Cunningham) —Designates November of each year as "Food Pantry Donation Month" in New Jersey. 

• AJR174(Mejia, Benson, Quijano, Lopez/Cryan, Greenstein) — Urges large food retailers in the State to reduce food waste. 

• AJR175 (Chiaravalloti, Spearman, Mosequra/Diegnan, Singelton) — Urges Chief Innovation Officer to prioritize enhancement of NJOneApp to include all State anti-hunger programs

• Promoting Equal Opportunities for Children Living in Poverty (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families/TANF) - TANF is New Jersey’s sole program created to protect low-income families with children during their times of greatest need, which acts as protection against the troubles of deep poverty. Programs like TANF that help stabilize the take home pay of low-income families have long-lasting effects on a child’s ability to succeed in school, get a degree, find work as an adult, and live healthy lifestyles. By raising the state’s TANF grant levels, lawmakers could improve maternal and child health, which would have great short- and long-term benefits for families throughout New Jersey.

• Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Milestones

• 1880: New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) is the third experiment station in the nation to be established. Its two functions are to conduct research and help residents of the state put this knowledge to work.

• 1948: Food technology program under the leadership of Walter Maclinn opens a new building on campus housing programs to enhance food preservation including combat rations and enhancing the quality of New Jersey tomatoes, peaches and other Garden State products. Extension Home Economists extend these food preservation techniques to homemakers throughout the state.

• 1984: The Rutgers Master Gardener program, a statewide initiative designed to increase horticultural knowledge and environmental awareness, is initiated in Bergen County by then-county agent Ralph Pearson.

• 2000: The Food Innovation Center begins to offer business and technology expertise to small and mid-sized food and agribusinesses in New Jersey. In 2008, the center moves into a 23,000 sq. ft. food incubator facility in Bridgeton, NJ.

• 2004: NJAES launches a major new initiative called New Jersey-Living Well. The initiative represents a strategic refocusing to address New Jersey residents' needs in the area of food, nutrition, and health.

• SNAP NJ Program- The state-funded SNAP-Ed nutrition education program, launched in the summer of 2018, teaches people in need how to eat right while on a budget and make physical activity an important aspect of their daily lives. They provide targeted education for every age group  in over 10 counties in New Jersey. 

• Table to Table Service - In 2019, from the local area alone, Table to Table rescued enough food for over 25 million meals for individuals and families suffering from food security complications.

   

      

Current Policy & Programs  summary of current policies in the form of legislation, programs, and funding

• Community Food Bank New Jersey - Community Food Bank New Jersey works with over a thousand community partners (also known as “agencies”) to reach people in need across the state. They include food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters that help get healthy food to hungry men, women and children in their neighborhoods.
• Hunger Free NJ - As the leading advocacy organization working to end hunger in New Jersey, Hunger Free NJ (a program of Center for Food Action), provides emergency services to northern New Jersey’s poorest and most vulnerable residents.

• Foodshed Alliance - The Foodshed Alliance works to strengthen the northern New Jersey “foodshed,” working particularly in Sussex, Warren, Morris, Passaic, Bergen, Essex and Hudson counties.  

• Jersey Fresh - Jersey Fresh is an advertising, promotional and quality grading program originally launched in 1984 to help farmers inform consumers about the availability and variety of fruits and vegetables grown in New Jersey. 

• New Jersey Agricultural Society - The Mission of NJAS is to preserve and enhance agriculture, farming, and related activities and business in New Jersey through educational, informational, and promotional programs.

• The New Jersey Council of Farmers and Communities (NJCFC) - This network has successfully provided economic stimuli for many downtown business districts, while providing farmers a place to sell their produce, and giving New Jersey residents access to the best Jersey Fresh produce. 
• New Jersey Department of Agriculture - The New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) is an agency that oversees programs that serve all New Jersey citizens. One of the Department’s major priorities is to promote, protect and serve the Garden State’s diverse agriculture and agribusiness industries. In addition to the programs, they offer to support different forms of agriculture in New Jersey. 
• New Jersey Food Council - The New Jersey Food Council serves as an advocate on both legislative and regulatory issues on behalf of retail members and the mutual interests of their supplier partners, and disseminates accurate and timely information in order to educate and inform government members and the public. They also develop strategic alliances to further the mission and achieve short and long term goals while enhancing the image of the food industry.
• Table to Table - Everyday, Table to Table picks up fresh, wholesome food that otherwise would have been discarded and delivers it safely to soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and places that serve meals to the hungry. They work with a number of local grocery stores (including ShopRite, Whole Foods, Trader Joes and ACME) as well as produce wholesalers and distributors. The food they rescue is delivered to recipient agencies and often served to hungry neighbors within hours of being rescued.

• Touch New Jersey Food Pantry - TOUCH New Jersey coordinates and administers an all-volunteer food pantry. The pantry is open each Wednesday for 4 hours, allowing low-income, elderly and disabled residents to “shop” for fresh fruit, vegetables, meats, dairy, bread and other food staples. TOUCH’s operations are staffed by volunteers, currently “rescuing” and distributing an average of 10,000 pounds of food per week. 

Key Organizations contacts for public and private organizations

• Government 

• New Jersey Department of Agriculture: An agency which oversees programs that serve virtually all New Jersey citizens. The department was established in 1916 and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016.   Click here to learn more. One of the Department’s major priorities is to promote, protect and serve the Garden State’s diverse agriculture and agribusiness industries.

• New Jersey Department of Health, Food and Drug Safety Program: The Food and Drug Safety Program regulates food, drug, and cosmetic safety and provides information to consumers and the regulated industry.

• Non-Profit - Service Providing

• Community Food Bank of New Jersey: The Community Food Bank of New Jersey helps fight hunger and poverty in New Jersey by assisting those in need and seeking long-term solutions for food insecurities in the Garden State. As the state's largest anti-hunger and anti-poverty organization, the food bank engages, educates, and empowers all sectors of society in the battle. Working with volunteers, donors, and many partners, the food bank looks to fill the emptiness caused by hunger with Food, Help and Hope. 

• Table to Table: Table to Table is a community-based food rescue program that collects perishable food from donors that would otherwise be wasted and delivers it to organizations that serve the hungry in counties in New Jersey. They then deliver the food the same day for free to over 200 community organizations including food pantries, shelters, day care/after school programs, senior adult centers, and programs serving the working poor. 
• Non-Profit - Advocacy/Membership/Network  
• New Jersey End Hunger Advisory Committee: The Hunger Prevention Advisory Committee was created through the New Jersey Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program Act, during November 2000, and was allocated an appropriation of $5 million in TANF funds. 

• New Jersey Food Council: The New Jersey Food Council is an alliance of food retailers and their supplier partners united to provide vision and leadership to advance the interest of its members. 

• Hunger Free New Jersey: Using a strategic combination of state and federal advocacy and local grassroots activism, Hunger Free New Jersey takes a comprehensive approach to solving hunger. Hunger Free New Jersey educates decision-makers, advocates for stronger laws & policies, mobilizes grassroots advocates, and engages in strategic communications to help end food security in New Jersey.   
• Foundation
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• Other
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Bibliography   web sites, reports, articles, and other reference material

• https://cfbnj.org/history/

• https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/562019/20190509b.shtml

• https://www.njpp.org/healthcare/promoting-equal-opportunities-for-children-living-in-poverty

• https://njaes.rutgers.edu/about/milestones.php

• https://cfbnj.org/hunger-health

• https://tabletotable.org/feeding-nj/

• https://cfbnj.org/

• https://hungerfreenj.org/

• http://foodshedalliance.org/what-is-a-foodshed/

• https://findjerseyfresh.com/

• http://www.njagsociety.org/

• https://www.jerseyfarmersmarkets.com/

• https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/

• https://njfoodcouncil.com/

• https://tabletotable.org/

• http://touchnewjersey.org/about-us/

• https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/about/

• https://www.nj.gov/health/ceohs/food-drug-safety/

• http://www.endhungernj.org/

• https://njfoodcouncil.com/mission-statement/

Contributor(s): Elijah Edu, The College of New Jersey

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