Sen. Cory Booker Highlights Stories Of Hunger From New Jersey

NEW JERSEY — For Robin Peacock, one of the worst parts about struggling with hunger was the shame that came with it.

Peacock, the executive director of MEND – an interfaith network of food pantries and partners in Essex County – was one of more than 60 advocates, elected officials and community members who recently shared their stories from the front-lines of New Jersey’s fight against hunger with U.S. Sen. Cory Booker. And her story is uncomfortably similar to the struggle many Garden State residents face, she says.

“My mom was on public assistance off and on throughout my childhood, and I know the shame that comes with having to navigate the benefits systems,” Peacock recalled.

That includes having to put food back at a grocery store while in the checkout line because it was too expensive, paying with food stamps and constantly feeling “lesser than” your peers – just because of money.

Peacock isn’t the only hunger advocate who has seen the effects of poverty in New Jersey.

On Thursday, Booker and New Jersey Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin hosted a listening session with New Jersey anti-hunger advocates, state officials and agricultural stakeholders in advance of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September (watch the video below).

The roundtable discussion highlighted food insecurity and hunger in New Jersey, reforming the nation’s food system, and the rising incidence of diet-related diseases. A recent report found that one in 12 New Jersey households experienced food insecurity from 2018 to 2020, and that chronic health conditions resulting from food insecurity cost New Jersey about $1.3 billion each year.

Meanwhile, “skyrocketing food costs and the end of COVID-19 benefits” are combining to make an already tough situation even worse, said New Jersey YMCA State Alliance CEO Darrin Anderson, one of several advocates to speak at Thursday’s roundtable.

• See related article: NJ Has 1.5 Million People Living In 'Food Deserts,' Officials Say

Some advocates warned about the “disproportionate harm hunger and diet-related diseases” that are plaguing Black, Brown and low-income communities across the state. Others pushed for solutions that include improving access to fresh fruits and vegetables, expanding federal assistance programs, supporting locally grown produce and eliminating food waste. Read More: NJ Bill Aims To Reduce 'Food Waste' By 50 Percent

According to Lois Bennett of Hillsborough-based Feeding Hands, there has been a spike in food insecurity since the pandemic has started to wane. Bennett wrote:

“I started a food pantry 8 years ago and have seen the ebb and flow that Emergency Food Pantries such as ours receive. We served just under 300 families a month prior to Covid from 600 sq ft of dedicated space in a church. The pandemic forced us out of that small space to the curb where we served up to 550 families in a month under 3 huge tents we had to purchase. We moved more than 60,000 lbs of food a month in just 3 1/2 hours each Tuesday. But the quick rebound from the covid shutdown, as people got back to work and stimulus payments helped people pay their basic bills, meant that within 6 months we were seeing a stabilization then a decline. However, this current situation is seeing the numbers of families growing exponentially as each month passes in 2022. We surpassed the pandemic high in May and the first week of July, our volume increased 60% over the same week in May. With this need, food pantries are struggling with space...affordable space to meet the needs being presented. Since moving to the curb in March of 2020, we have been in 7 different locations...flooded out of the quarters we moved into to escape the winter snow of curbside distribution, then a series of street distribution locations and temporary rentals all without missing a single day of distribution. As of now we still have not found affordable space in proximity to the people we serve.”

Despite the struggles, there are also rays of hope when it comes to creating lasting change, some advocates have pointed out.

“It's already happening, albeit largely across the nonprofit sector,” Peacock said. “COVID forced us to break down silos, and the benefits have been great.”

For example, MEND – which created a Fresh Food Hub in Orange in 2020 – is partnering with Amazon In The Community to assist with home deliveries. Peacock said.

Booker said that as mayor of Newark – his former gig before running for U.S. Senate – he saw firsthand how lack of access to healthy foods harmed local residents. It’s part of why he pushed to help bring several supermarkets to the area, and create community gardens and urban farms alongside community activists. Read More: Urban Farm In Newark Gets Visit From Sen. Booker

“I’m grateful to everyone who wrote in for highlighting the urgency of these issues and for their work every day to remove barriers to accessing healthy, affordable food,” said Booker, who still lives in Newark.

The senator said he has forwarded the outreach to the White House ahead of the upcoming Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health in September, which he fought to secure funding for. Hopefully, the conference will produce some new ideas about how to create a roadmap to “reform America’s failed food policies,” he added.

“I look forward to working with the White House to develop comprehensive solutions so that all people — from rural communities to cities like the one I call home — have equitable access to nutritious food options,” Booker said.

• See related article: Cory Booker Continues His Beef With The Beef Industry
• See related article: Time To Fix A 'Broken' U.S. Farm System, Sen. Booker Says

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