Reuben Rotman, executive director of Jewish Family Services of Greater MetroWest NJ, speaks at a Sept. 8 press conference, explaining the food stamp challenge.
WEST ORANGE / SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD — Assemblywoman Mila Jasey and Assemblyman John McKeon, who represent New Jersey’s 27th Legislative District, which includes Maplewood, South Orange and West Orange, are taking the food stamp challenge in order to raise awareness of hunger in the state.
Democrats Jasey and McKeon join 13 other legislators from both parties, in addition to 35 Jewish community leaders, who will try living on a food allowance of $4.20 per day, the average allotment received by participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The challenge, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ and its affiliates, began Sept. 8 and will continue through Sept. 14.
Though she had only experienced the challenge for less than a day when she was interviewed Monday, Sept. 8, Jasey of South Orange told the West Orange Chronicle that she was already noticing the difficulties related to living on a $30-per-week food budget. During a recent trip to the grocery store, she said she was only able to purchase a half-gallon of milk, a loaf of whole wheat bread, a jar of peanut butter, a carton of eggs and butter. She said her breakfast consisted of one boiled egg and toast, and her lunch was a peanut butter sandwich and water.
“I am hungry,” Jasey said in the phone interview. “It really forces you to think about what you are buying and what other people are able to buy. When I go into the grocery store I find myself really looking at prices. I do that anyway, but I am fortunate that I can buy pretty much what I want to buy. But the biggest challenge, I think, is going to be finding protein sources and fresh produce because it is expensive.”
Hunger is a major issue in New Jersey, where more than 1.1 million people suffer from food insecurity, according to statistics provided by the Jewish Federation. That number represents 13 percent of the total population, including 400,000 children.
And the problem is only getting worse. With the passing of the 2014 Federal Farm Bill in February came the elimination of utility aid benefits under the federal Low-Income House Energy Assistance Program, which led to larger SNAP payouts for low-income renters. As a result, as much as $90 in SNAP benefits were cut for approximately 159,000 New Jersey families.
Additionally, Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill in August that would have expanded federal heating aid to prevent that cut.
Jasey said she hopes that taking the challenge will encourage legislators to empathize with state residents who struggle with hunger every day, and encourage them to work together to end it. She said there is “absolutely no way” the SNAP cuts can be justified.
“I think they are unconscionable,” Jasey said. “I find it unacceptable, deplorable, shameful that in a country like ours, where we have such an abundance of food, anyone should be hungry and that we would deny people very small amounts of money to help them buy food, which is so basic. It is just reprehensible.”
West Orange resident McKeon, the township’s former mayor, agreed that the recent SNAP cuts in conjunction with the “abysmally slow” application process and overall economic downturn have formed a “perfect storm” of hardship for low-income New Jersey families. In a statement released to the press, the assemblyman said he took the challenge to shed light on the issue and advocate for those in need.
“Accepting this challenge is an act of solidarity with the many families in New Jersey and across this nation who struggle to put food on the table on a regular basis,” McKeon said. “Every day they must differentiate between wants and needs, forgoing the former only to realize that there may not be enough for the latter, either. As a father, I cannot help but think of the parents who are unable to provide their children with balanced meals, let alone welcome them home with an after-school snack.”
Raising awareness for the plight of New Jersey’s food-insecure population was the reason the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ decided to locally adopt the food stamp challenge, a popular national initiative taken on throughout the country. According to Reuben Rotman, executive director of the affiliated Jewish Family Service of MetroWest NJ, sponsoring the challenge was necessary to address the growing number of people affected by hunger. The fact that so many people are participating shows how important the matter is, he said.
“We really are very pleased that we have such great, wide and diverse participation from legislators and also from board members and volunteers from our agencies,” Rotman told the Chronicle prior to a Sept. 8 press conference announcing the challenge. “This is a bipartisan issue. It is not an issue that is limited solely to the Jewish community or to the Republicans or the Democrats. This is completely bipartisan, and it is a hard issue to disagree with.”
The food stamp challenge is actually the kickoff to the Jewish Federation’s yearlong End Hunger Campaign, which seeks to engage the Jewish community and population at large in fighting food insecurity. In addition to the challenge, the federation is also organizing a food drive, a day of service, a seder and a discussion session at the JCC of Greater MetroWest NJ in West Orange. The Jewish Family Service will continue to help people apply for SNAP benefits, and is currently growing an urban garden to feed the hungry.
For Melanie Roth Gorelick, director of the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ’s Community Relations Committee, the fact that the challenge is uniting legislators for a worthy cause is significant. According to Roth Gorelick, New Jersey is poised to become the 15th hardest-hit state by the SNAP cuts, making it important that lawmakers find a way to end widespread hunger.
“We are really pleased that we provided an opportunity for legislators to come together, both Democratic and Republican, in a forum to raise awareness about hunger,” Roth Gorelick told the Chronicle before the press conference. “We are really pleased with having more than 10 percent of the New Jersey legislation participating and joining together to stand up and say that this is an important issue; we need to pay attention and we need to find a bipartisan solution.”