People facing hunger in NJ are estimated to report needing $437,705,000
more per year to meet their food needs.
The average cost of a meal in New Jersey is $3.34.
Food insecurity refers to USDA’s measure of lack of access, at times,
to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and
limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods.
37,227,000 people are food insecure in the US.
AVERAGE MEAL COST IN THE UNITED STATES = $3.09.
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.
6.5 million children live in low-income neighborhoods that are more than
a mile from a supermarket.
Newark:
Newark is New Jersey’s largest city.
In 2016, Newark was home to more than 72,000 children. 18% live in extreme
poverty, compared to 7% of NJ children overall.
More than half of the children receiving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) in Essex County were Newark children.
Seniors:
Nearly 25% of senior adults live in households with incomes below 200%
of the federal poverty level.
Reducing senior citizens’ risk of food insecurity or hunger benefits
their health, nutrition, and general well-being and helps them remain
independent.
In 2015, 5.4 million Americans over the age of 60 were food insecure. This
represents 8% of all seniors in the United States.
At the current rate the number of senior citizens with food insecurity
is projected to increase 50% by 2025.
Housing:
49.3% of renters spent more than 30% of their income on housing in 2014.
26.4% spent more than half of their income on housing.
The National Center for Healthy Housing and APHA, in their joint 2014 National
Healthy Housing Standard, set a guideline for what constitutes a healthy
home: A dwelling that is clean, safe and sanitary; without hazards or
pests; and with safety and security measures in place to maintain occupants’
well-being.
In a 2011 issue brief on healthy housing, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
reported an estimated 310,000 children ages 1 to 5 have elevated blood
lead levels, which can lead to stunted growth, lower IQ, learning difficulties,
anemia and other lifelong health issues.
The 2013 American Housing Survey, a report on housing quality and access,
found that about 2 percent of housing units, nearly 2 million dwellings,
had severe physical problems — with a lack of plumbing, running
water or heat accounting for the majority of cases — from 2005 to
2009. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that
while lead-based paint was banned in 1978, more than 24 million homes
still have deteriorated lead paint in them. More than 4 million of those
are young children’s homes.
The National Association of Realtors reported that in May, the average
cost of a U.S. single-family home was $241,000, while the median family
income was $68,759.
Even families and individuals who make a more comfortable living spend
more than the 30 percent of their income on housing, a threshold that
the U.S. Census Bureau suggests as a standard for housing affordability.
Redlining, the act of denying people of color access to certain neighborhoods
or services, has been part of U.S. history since before the Jim Crow era.
Its effects are still felt today — for example, in the segregated
neighborhoods of many major U.S. cities — and its roots even lie
in some former HUD policies, Payne said. In fact, redlining still happens
today, though HUD is fighting the discrimination.
Between systemic prejudices and a history that keeps nipping at the heels
of many low-income people and people of color, it can be difficult to
move up into better housing, or even maintain the status of the housing
a person or family currently lives in.
Without the stability of staying in a consistent home and neighborhood,
children’s health and education suffers.