Notes

Data for White do not include Hispanics, data for Black include Hispanics and non-Hispanics, and Hispanic ethnicity includes persons of any race. **Data for Asians not available.

Data Source

U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, as presented in the Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap Report. [http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america].

Definition

Food insecurity refers to the 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. Food insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all the time. Food insecurity may reflect a household's need to make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as housing or medical bills, and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods.

Numerator

Estimated number of persons living in food-insecure households

Denominator

Number of persons in population

Healthy People Objective: Reduce household food insecurity and in doing so reduce hunger

U.S. Target: 6.0 percent

How Are We Doing?

The USDA estimates that in 2020, about 657,320 people, including 175,830 children, in New Jersey were food insecure. That means 7.4% of individuals and 9.0% of children live in homes without consistent access to adequate food for everyone to live healthy, active lives. Seventeen percent of Blacks and Hispanics in New Jersey are food insecure. The food insecurity rate among all New Jersey residents as well as among children decreased between 2011 and 2020. In 2020, six New Jersey counties had a rate above the US rate (11.8%) for persons of all ages and eight New Jersey counties surpassed the national rate of 16.1% for children. The highest rate among children and among all ages was in Atlantic County in 2020.

How Do We Compare With the U.S.?

New Jersey had the 7th lowest overall and 3rd lowest child food insecurity rates among U.S. states in 2020.

What Is Being Done?

The [https://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/dfd/programs/njsnap/ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] (SNAP) and the [https://nj.gov/health/fhs/wic/ Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children] (WIC) play a critical role in helping low-income families break out of the cycle of hunger and diet-related disease. Both programs augment households' food budgets, allowing them to purchase more healthful foods, and provide nutrition education to participants. The [https://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/divisions/fn/ New Jersey Department of Agriculture] also administers several food distribution programs and child and adult nutrition programs.

Available Services

NJ Department of Agriculture, [https://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/divisions/fn/ Food and Nutrition Programs] NJ Department of Human Services, [https://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/dfd/programs/njsnap/ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] (NJ SNAP) NJ Department of Health, [https://nj.gov/health/fhs/wic/ Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children] (WIC)

Health Program Information

Food insecurity is based on a series of questions on the U.S. Current Population Survey called the "Core Food Security Module." The module asks about a variety of food security conditions (e.g., worried food would run out, could not afford balanced meal, did not eat for a whole day because they could not afford enough food, etc.). Food insecurity was measured by the number of food insecure conditions experienced in the household and the frequency with which each condition was experienced in that household. "Food Insecurity" includes households with low and very low food security. For more information, visit the USDA Economic Research Service, [https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-security-in-the-united-states.aspx Food Security in the United States] web page.