Hunger in America 2010

NEW JERSEY STATE REPORT

Download the complete version of the New Jersey Hunger in America 2010 report.

The report summarized below includes findings from all members of the New Jersey Federation of Food Banks: the Community FoodBank of New Jersey and its Southern Branch, the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, the Food Bank of South Jersey, Mercer Street Friends Food Bank and NORWESCAP Food Bank. Agencies and clients in all 21 counties are represented.

The New Jersey study is based on completed in-person interviews with 1,146 clients at emergency food programs (pantries, shelters and soup kitchens) as well as on completed questionnaires from 1,059 agencies reporting on 1,759 programs. (Other types of providers served by food banks are, for the most part, not described in this study, including such programs as congregate meals for seniors, day care facilities, and after school programs.)

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED IN THIS STUDY:

FOOD BANK: A charitable organization that solicits, receives, inventories, and distributes donated food and grocery products pursuant to industry and appropriate regulatory standards. The products are distributed to charitable human-service agencies, such as pantries, shelters and soup kitchens, which provide the products or meals directly to clients.

FOOD INSECURITY: USDA’s measure of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members; limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods.

VERY LOW FOOD INSECURITY or FOOD INSECURITY WITH HUNGER: An involuntary state that results in eating patterns of one or more household members being disrupted and food intake reduced, because the household could not afford enough food.

Key Highlights

The New Jersey Federation of Food Banks provides emergency food for an estimated 830,200 different people annually, a 45% increase over the Hunger in America 2006 State Report.
Among programs that existed in 2006, 87% of pantries, 72% of kitchens, and 55% of shelters in New Jersey reported that there had been an increase in the last 4 years in the number of clients served.
42% of the NJ respondents have children under 18 years old as members of their households

34% of client households include at least one employed adult; only 4% are homeless.
Among all client households served by emergency food programs in New Jersey, 80% are food insecure, according to the U.S. government’s official food security scale.
40% of the clients have very low food security.
Among households with children, 83% are food insecure, and 37% are food insecure with very low food security.

49% of clients in New Jersey report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel.
48% had to choose between paying for food and paying their rent or mortgage.
34% had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care.

33% of households in New Jersey report having at least one household member in poor health.

20% of clients had lost jobs within the last year

94% of adult clients were satisfied with the quality of the food they received.
71% of pantries, 69% of kitchens, and 30% of shelters are run by faith-based agencies affiliated with churches, mosques, synagogues, and other religious organizations.
Food banks are by far the single most important source of food for agencies with emergency food providers, accounting for 76% of the food distributed by pantries; 53% of the food distributed by kitchens, and 45% of food distributed by shelters.

Volunteers are extremely important. As many as 92% of pantries, 88% of kitchens, and 61% of shelters in New Jersey use volunteers.
Many programs rely entirely on volunteers; 69% of pantry programs and 52% of kitchens have no paid staff at all.