Planning for and initial implementation of the New Jersey Food Security Initiative

This Foundation grant funds the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) to advance the planning and early implementation of RWJF's New Jersey Food Security Initiative (NJFSI) to improve food nutrition and health equity. Based on an assessment of the landscape of hunger and its solutions in New Jersey that FRAC conducted in 2021, the comprehensive plan will focus on enhancing cross-sector coordination; maximizing equitable food purchasing power and procurement; and leveraging current and emerging policy and program opportunities--all with underlying interventions. This initiative aligns with the RWJF policy roadmap recommendations for New Jersey to expand equitable access to healthy food in communities and schools. It will help advance other priorities, such as improving maternal and child health outcomes; improving high-quality early care and education; delivering whole-person care in health systems; and fostering collaboration across state agencies. This plan will complete the planning to inform the implementation, to start in 2023, of the three-year NJFSI.