CAMDEN, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — A new study shows an increase in families experiencing hunger this year in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and across the U.S. To combat the growing problem, a national charity is lobbying for congressional support to bring back money for social safety net programs.
Hunger Free America just released this year’s U.S. Hunger Atlas and Annual Survey Report. At an event Friday in Camden, CEO Joel Berg pointed out that food insecurity decreased when government support increased in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, over a seven-day period in October, he said, about 943,000 people in New Jersey, 908,000 people in Pennsylvania, and more than 25 million people nationwide reported they didn’t have enough to eat, according to their survey.
New Jersey’s total was 89% higher than at the same time in 2021. Pennsylvania’s total was about 47% higher.
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“We believe primarily because federal expansions of programs like universal school meals have gone away due to conservative opposition in Congress, the child tax credit has been ended due to conservative opposition in Congress, and the role of inflation,” said Berg.
He said there are large income disparities between poor and middle-class or wealthy residents.
“[New Jersey] has a great deal of poverty, and many working families who make just too little to be able to get the federal benefits are really struggling,” Berg said.
He emphasized that the issue of hunger is too big for charities to take on alone.
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“Charities like this at Salvation Army do an absolutely vital job filling in the gaps, but our message is we need to move beyond charity,” he said. “We also need public policy improvements. We need higher wages, more affordable housing, and a more adequate safety net.”
New Jersey Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Woodbridge, said it’s a matter of getting resources to the right people.
“There's not a food shortage here,” said Coughlin. “There's a people-getting-food shortage.”
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Berg said hunger is a 365-day-a-year problem, but they’re touting this report ahead of Thanksgiving to try and convince the lame-duck session of Congress to reinstate some of these hunger safety net programs.
“Implement some continuations of these programs, so we can really address the hunger crisis in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the whole country,” said Berg.
“There's a big debate now, whether they're just going to pass what's called a continuing resolution that just gives existing programs the same money they got this year, or whether there's going to be some new funding. Stay tuned.”