Bill Text: NJ AR103 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges US Congress to study food deserts and feasibility of addressing issue at federal level.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-08 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Children, Families and Food Security Committee [AR103 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-AR103-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ALIXON COLLAZOS-GILL
District 27 (Essex and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Urges US Congress to study food deserts and feasibility of addressing issue at federal level.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Assembly Resolution urging the United States Congress to study food deserts and the feasibility of addressing the issue at the federal level.
Whereas, Food deserts are geographic areas where residents have few to no convenient options for obtaining affordable and healthy foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables; and
Whereas, Food deserts make it more difficult for kids, families, and communities to obtain and maintain healthy eating habits; and
Whereas, Food deserts are a disproportionate reality for low income communities; and
Whereas, When identifying food deserts, researchers consider factors such as access to food, as measured by distance to a store or by the number of stores in an area; household resources, including family income or vehicle availability; and neighborhood resources, such as the average income of the neighborhood and the availability of public transportation; and
Whereas, Food deserts are most common in areas with smaller populations, higher rates of abandoned or vacant homes, and residents who have lower levels of education, lower incomes, and higher rates of unemployment; and
Whereas, There is no single cause of food deserts but there are contributing factors; and
Whereas, Contributing factors that cause food deserts consist of transportation challenges, unhealthy convenience food accessibility, and high cost of healthy foods; and
Whereas, Low income families are less likely to have reliable transportation which can prevent residents from traveling longer distances to buy healthy groceries; and
Whereas, Low income families are also more likely to live in communities populated by smaller corner stores, convenience markets, and fast food vendors; and
Whereas, Opening a supermarket or grocery store chain is often viewed as an investment risk by potential investors, and this risk can grow to prohibitive proportions in lower income neighborhoods; and
Whereas, The investment risk stems from different factors including the potential dramatic fluctuation in the purchasing power of customers in lower income communities, such as those enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; and
Whereas,
The threat of higher crime rates, whether real or perceived, also deter
supermarket and grocery store investors from opening new locations in lower
income neighborhoods as it can lead to higher operating expenses due to
increased insurance fees and security costs; and
Whereas, More than 1.3 million New Jerseyans live in food deserts where regular access to healthy food is hindered by factors including the absence of supermarkets, poor public transit, low internet use, and high poverty rates; and
Whereas, The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) "Food Desert Relief Program" addresses the food security needs of communities across New Jersey by providing up to $40 million per year in tax credits, loans, grants, and technical assistance to increase access to nutritious foods and develop new approaches to alleviate food deserts; and
Whereas, Current State policies and programs are not enough to fully address the food desert problem in New Jersey; and
Whereas, Comprehensive federal policies and programs that focus on providing sustainable long term solutions to food deserts are needed to help support states, such as New Jersey, effectively solve the food desert crisis currently affecting residents; and
Whereas, Continued food desert research at the federal level is also needed to provide ongoing up-to-date data that states can use to inform new state level actionable policy solutions and supplement their own food desert research efforts; and
Whereas, Supplementing and expanding existing federal level food desert research, such as the United States Department of Agriculture "Food Access Research Atlas" and "Food Desert Locator" through the incorporation of ongoing research, will provide continual new data that will help inform innovative approaches to solving the food desert crisis at the state level and across the country; and
Whereas, A study to determine the feasibility of addressing food deserts at the federal level should be conducted by Congress as it will help guide future state level food desert research by providing a framework on whether future actionable policy should focus on micro or macro level interventions; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The General Assembly respectfully urges the United States Congress to study food deserts and the feasibility of addressing the food desert issue at the federal level.
2. Copies of this resolution,
as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the
General Assembly or the Secretary of the Senate to the Majority and Minority
Leaders of the United States Senate, to the Speaker and Minority Leader of the
United States House of Representatives, and to each member of the United States
Congress elected from this State.
STATEMENT
This resolution respectfully urges Congress to study food deserts and the feasibility of addressing the issue at the federal level. Food deserts are geographic areas where residents have few to no convenient options for obtaining affordable and healthy foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Disproportionately found in high poverty areas, food deserts make it more difficult for kids, families, and communities to obtain and maintain healthy eating habits. Food deserts are most common in areas with smaller populations, higher rates of abandoned or vacant homes, and residents who have lower levels of education, lower incomes, and higher rates of unemployment.
There is no single cause of food deserts but there are contributing factors that cause them, such as: transportation challenges, unhealthy convenience food accessibility, and high cost of healthy foods. More than 1.3 million New Jerseyans live in food deserts where regular access to healthy food is hindered by factors including the absence of supermarkets, poor public transit, low internet use, and high poverty rates. Current State policies and programs are not enough to fully address the food desert problem in New Jersey.
Continued food desert research at the federal level is necessary to develop feasible and actionable policy that will address the issue at the State level. Supplementing and expanding existing federal level food desert research, such as the "United States Department of Agricultures "Food Access Research Atlas" and "Food Desert Locator", through the incorporation ongoing research will allow for continual new data that will help inform innovative approaches to solving the food desert crisis across the country and in the State. A study to determine the feasibility of addressing food deserts at the federal level should be conducted by Congress as it will help guide future state level food desert research by providing a framework on whether future actionable policy should focus on micro or macro level interventions.
