What's Happening

Big Step Forward in School Breakfast Will Help Feed More Hungry Children ....and help them learn!!

On January 18th, the New Jersey Departments of Education and Agriculture issued a joint memo to all school districts in NJ stating that breakfast can count as instructional time, and encouraging schools to make breakfast more accessible to students by offering the meal as part of the school day, after the bell. “We encourage you to think about providing students with breakfast in the classroom…That time could be considered part of instructional time and would only take about 10 minutes,” the memo said.

Read the memo.

This is a major step forward in improving low-income children's access to breakfast, and something NJAHC has been advocating strongly for over the past few years.  Currently, only 37% of children eating free- or reduced-price lunch also get breakfast at school in NJ, ranking our state 46th in the nation in school breakfast participation among low-income children.

If you are interested in getting involved in local efforts to improve access to school breakfast, please contact us at njahc@cfanj.org.

Food Stamp/SNAP Participation Continues to Rise in New Jersey as More Households Struggle with Hunger

According to the NJ Department of Human Services, there were 768,463 individuals (396,248 adults and 372,216 children) receiving SNAP/food stamp benefits as of October 2011.  This is up from 569,595 individuals in October 2009. 

Between October 2010 and 2011, New Jersey had the largest percentage caseload increase (26.9%) in SNAP in the nation. 

Even with this significant increase in food stamp applications, NJ still ranks among the bottom states in the nation (49th) in SNAP participation, reaching less than 60% of all those eligible to get benefits.  

Percentage of SNAP participation among all eligible people:    

In  2007    2008    2009

       54%       56%       59%

Percentage of SNAP participation among eligible working poor households:

In  2007    2008    2009

     44%     44%    46%  

    

Data from US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, December 2011

Pictured above: Members of the Food Stamp Alliance of NJ gather to discuss recent trends in food stamps/SNAP and identify barriers to participation among low-income households.  The Food Stamp Alliance is comprised of outreach workers from all six regional food banks in NJ, Rutgers Learning to End Hunger student-led initiative and the NJ Anti-Hunger Coalition – all of whom are providing SNAP application assistance at community-based sites throughout the state.

More Seniors in NJ Struggle with Hunger and Economic Insecurity

Nearly 6 million senior citizens struggle with hunger in America.  Nutrition programs are available to help seniors, but are limited in scope and often difficult for seniors to access.  For example, Food Stamps (SNAP) only reach about 34% of seniors in NJ who are eligible to receive benefits. 

This month the NJAHC, along with the NJ Foundation on Aging and other statewide partners, hosted a policy forum focused on senior hunger and elder economic insecurity.  State legislators and Congressional representatives were invited to hear about how seniors are struggling in NJ to make ends meet and how state and federal policy and programs can best address the problem. 

Pictured above: Adele LaTourette, NJAHC Director talks about the importance of nutrition programs and the need to preserve and improve these programs to help seniors. 

Pictured below: Representatives from offices of both state and federal legislators, along with seniors, caregivers and advocates discuss senior hunger and how to improve access to nutrition programs. 

NJAHC in the NEWS.... 

Bruce Springsteen cites advocacy work of Adele LaTourette in letter to the editor 

Bruce Springsteen submitted a letter to the editor in response to an article about poverty that ran in the Asbury Park press on Wednesday. 

Mr. Springsteen wrote: "Thank you for your March 27 front-page story by Michael Symons, 'As poverty rises, cuts target aid.' The article is one of the few that highlights the contradictions between a policy of large tax cuts, on the one hand, and cuts in services to those in the most dire conditions, on the other.  Also, you've shone some light on anti-poverty workers and analysts such as Adele LaTourette, Meara Nigro, Cecilia Zalkind and Raymond Castro, among others, all of whom have something important to add to the discussion: real information and actual facts about what is happening below the poverty line." (Click here to see the article: As poverty rises, NJ cuts target aid

 

 

 

NJAHC Past Events....

Pictured Below: Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) and Adele LaTourette (Director of the NJAHC) speak to students and staff at Community Park School in Princeton about passage of The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, and how the law will positively impact their school meal program. 

Pictured from left to right: Lisa Pitz and Adele LaTourette of the New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coalition (NJAHC) and Ellen Teller, Director of Government Affairs at the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), in DC to talk with Congressional staffers about reauthorization of Child Nutrition Programs that help feed low-income children. 

Pictured below: Assemblyman Gary Schaer (District 36), Adele LaTourette (Director of the NJAHC) and Rev. Bruce Davidson (Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministries) address the press at an event at the State House on May 18th.  The NJAHC hosted the event to highlight Governor Christie's proposed cuts to school breakfast and lunch programs, and the consequences for low-income children at risk of hunger in NJ.

 

Click here to Visit the Food Research and Action Center website

NJ Anti-Hunger Coalition Launches Every Child, Every Day:
Campaign to End Childhood Hunger in New Jersey by 2015

In February 2009, the New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coalition launched “Every Child, Every Day: A Campaign to End Childhood Hunger in New Jersey by 2015". This comprehensive campaign includes federal, state and local strategies designed to help more low-income children access nutritious food for healthy living. Read full story.

 

Pictured above: At a kick off event at the State House for "Every Child, Every Day: Campaign to End Childhood Hunger in NJ", students from Trenton Catholic Academy help the NJ Anti-Hunger Coalition (NJAHC) hand out bagged breakfasts to State Legislators to promote the importance of school breakfast and the need to expand the program.