Hunger initiative will feed more New Jerseyans

Legend has it that New Jersey got its nickname of the "Garden State" while being compared to a double-ended cornucopia, with its agricultural products flowing to New York in the north and Philadelphia in the south.

So it would seem that New Jersey, where the food complex is now an $82 billion-a-year business, should be the last place where hunger would be a problem.

But those who are immersed in these issues daily know that hunger is indeed a reality for a sizable percentage of New Jerseyans.

In fact, 1.6 million of this state's 8.6 million residents live below 185 percent of the poverty level, which makes them eligible for help in obtaining food through the hundreds of feeding organizations in New Jersey. That's nearly one in every five residents who requires some help meeting their food needs.

While New Jersey has more than 660 local distribution agencies, consisting of food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters, they often do not have enough healthy and nutritious food for all who need it. Each year, more than a quarter of the people are turned away from food pantries and 9 percent turned away from soup kitchens due to a lack of food.

Fortunately, Gov. Jon Corzine has recognized how imperative it is to increase the resources available to the state's emergency feeding operations so that they may help even more of the hungry get the food they need.

In the FY2007 budget, the governor included, and the Legislature approved, an initiative earmarking $3 million for the purchase of healthy and nutritious foods and $1 million to help the state's emergency feeding operations expand their storage capacity and upgrade food-preparation equipment.

The first checks intended for buying additional food - totaling $750,000 - were distributed to hunger relief agencies throughout the state on Oct. 3.

This help comes just as statistics show the need for such services in New Jersey is growing. The recently released Hunger in America 2006 report shows that 68.1 percent of our food pantries and 62.8 percent of our soup kitchens are observing an increase in participation. This puts even further strain on the limited resources these organizations have to meet the needs of the hungry.

As administrators of the statewide feeding programs through our Division of Food and Nutrition, we at the Department of Agriculture owe it to the residents of this state to ensure that this new state money is allocated in the most efficient manner and in a way that brings the most healthy and nutritious food directly to the people in most need.

It is advantageous that New Jersey is blessed with a thriving array of agriculture and related food industries. That makes it easier to purchase and collect food from nearby sources and transport across shorter distances to get to the feeding operations.

Ensuring healthy and nutritious foods are purchased or donated at the lowest possible transportation cost can be done by establishing a procurement hierarchy of: (1) local (2) regional, and (3) national. This effort will further complement the existing federal hunger programs as well as the contributions from private industry, community organizations and individuals.

The ultimate goal is to provide nutrient-dense foods that will help those availing themselves of feeding operations to closely follow the USDA's food pyramid nutrition guidelines. New Jersey already can proudly point to the most comprehensive school nutrition policy in the nation. It makes sense that we help all our residents, not just our students, to eat as healthy a diet as possible.

Further helping to focus the additional funding on food purchases, our Division of Food and Nutrition will work with the Department of State's enhanced volunteerism programs to steer people who want to help their communities toward donating their time to local feeding operations.

In addition to expanding food purchases, the governor's initiative includes an up-front investment to improve and expand storage capacity and food preparation equipment that will allow feeding operations to make the most of the food they receive. This effort will target those facilities most in need of expanded storage capacity and/or food-preparation equipment. Again, modifying the existing structure to accomplish the new goal makes the program more efficient.

By implementing well-thought-out strategies to bring more food to more people at the least possible cost, improve feeding operations' facilities and increase volunteerism at these locations, the hunger initiative can ensure that the cornucopia that is New Jersey will be accessible to all our residents.

Charles M. Kuperus

N.J. Secretary of Agriculture