- As of 2012, 1,151,890 people live in food-insecure households in New Jersey.
Source: Map the Meal Gap, Feeding America and Community Food Bank of New Jersey, 2014 - The Poverty Research Institute reports that one out of every five New Jersey families does not earn enough to afford basic necessities such as food, housing, and child care, although 85 percent of these families have at least one working family member.
Source: Poverty Research Institute, 2011 - The number of households in New Jersey experiencing food hardship increased from an average of 14.9 percent in 2009-2010 to 17.1 percent in 2011-2012.
Source: Food Research and Action Center, February 2013 - In 2014, 77 percent of emergency food clients in New Jersey reported having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel (up from 40 percent in 2006); 70 percent had to choose between paying for food and paying their rent or mortgage (up from 39 percent in 2006); and 73 percent had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care (up from 31 percent in 2006).
Source: Community FoodBank of New Jersey hunger survey, September, 2014 - In 2010, 42 percent of the members of households in New Jersey served by the emergency food system were children under 18 years old (up from 33 percent in 2006).
Source: NJ Federation of Food Banks hunger survey, February 2010 - In 2014, there were 906,735 people participating in the food stamp program in New Jersey, up from 542,424 in 2009, an increase of 67.2%.
Source: Food Research and Action Center, December 2014 - The state of New Jersey had the biggest increase in the number of residents participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—up 19 percent since June 2010.
Source: Time Magazine, October 3, 2011