   
 Hunger in South Jersey
In 2011, Feeding America completed a nationwide study of hunger in the United States. Called “Map the Meal,” this study examined the food insecure populations in the country along with income, age and food stamp eligibility.
Here in the four counties of South Jersey we serve – Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem - 171,920 people were identified as food insecure. Over 57,000 of them are school age children. And most significantly, 45% of the people going hungry in South Jersey do not qualify for SNAP (Food Stamp) benefits.
How many clients receive emergency food from the FBSJ?
An estimated 91,240 people have used an emergency feeding program
in South Jersey in which 12,000 different people receive emergency
food assistance in any given week.
- 36% of the members of households are children
under 18 years old.
- 30% of the members of households
are children age 0 to 5 years.
- 10% of the members of households are
elderly
- 39% of households include at least
one employed adult
- 73% have incomes below the federal
poverty level during the previous month
- 3% are homeless
The Difficult Choice
- 40% of clients served by The Food
Bank of South Jersey report having to choose between paying for food
and paying for utilities or heating fuel
- 36% had to choose between paying
for food and paying their rent or mortgage
- 34% had to choose between paying
for food and paying for medicine or medical care
Our Impact
In 2011 the Food Bank of South distributed over 10 million pounds of food, responding to more than 1 million requests for food. Much of this food was distributed through the more than 250 partners (soup kitchens, food pantries, rescues and homeless shelters) as well as our direct services programs that target the most fragile and vulnerable groups – children and the elderly.
In addition to our food distribution efforts, nutrition education is a critical part of our mission. Our Cooking Matters classes, which are part of our Healthy Living Initiative, use hands on, interactive cooking classes to teach young and old the medical and health advantages of a balanced diet full of nutrient rich foods.
Outreach services to help determine food stamp eligibility are part of our SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) services. In our four county service area about 45% of hungry people in need of food, do not receive food stamp benefits.
The Food Bank of South Jersey is by far the single most important source of food for charitable feeding programs, accounting of 75% of the food used by pantries, 57% of the food used by soup kitchens and 48% of food needed by homeless shelters. In many cases we are the last safety net for these organizations and without our support, many of these programs to help the hungry would shut down.
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