Jersey Strong: Local Organizations Fighting Food Insecurity in New Brunswick
While New Brunswick appears to be a booming urban epicenter at first glance, many of its residents struggle with food insecurity. However, amidst this challenge, local organizations are spearheading innovative solutions to ensure people have the food they need.
Nestled along the Raritan River, New Brunswick is home to about 57,000 people. Of those, about 17,100 live in poverty — more than 30 percent of the city’s population. Low-income families struggle to access nutritious and affordable food because of systemic barriers and limited financial resources. Advocates say that many residents have to rely on frozen or prepackaged foods, and fast food as their primary food sources, which can lead to chronic physical and mental health issues that New Brunswick community members are already disproportionately affected by.
But local nonprofit organizations like Elijah’s Promise are fighting back against food insecurity and providing hope for the local community. Their mission is to break the cycle of poverty, alleviate hunger, and change lives and they do so by offering a range of services designed to fight hunger in the city.
Elijah’s Promise runs the Community Soup Kitchen in New Brunswick. Each guest is served one hot and one bagged meal to-go. Each year, the program serves over 350,000 meals. The organization expanded its reach about two years ago when it started the Mobile Meal Program, which delivers an additional more than 2,500 meals per month to people in neighboring communities, including Metuchen, East Brunswick, and North Brunswick.
The food truck supports those who cannot get to the New Brunswick-based Community Soup Kitchen. It operates at specific locations throughout the week that people can view on a schedule available on the organization’s website. The food truck typically travels to the parking lots of senior centers, municipal complexes, and places of worship.
Michelle Wilson, executive director of Elijah’s Promise, takes pride in the organization’s work and said she hopes to grow the Mobile Meal Program.
“We need to keep looking at new places,” she said. “[The truck] is only two years old so we want to keep extending to new locations to where there is more need.”
Elijah’s Promise also runs a state-certified vocational school and job-training program called the Promise Culinary School. It provides a space for community members seeking employment in the culinary field to gain hands-on experience. Since 1997, the school has achieved a 90 percent job placement rate for its graduates, according to Elijah’s Promise.
Wilson underscored the importance of collective action in the fight against food insecurity. She said Elijah’s Promise is supported by individuals, foundations, social service groups, and government agencies.
“We work with everyone,” she said. “That is how we get the work done.”
One of the organization’s closest partners is REPLENISH, a Middlesex county-wide food bank. In 2023 alone, it provided 5.2 million pounds of food to those in need. Wilson stated that their support is instrumental in Elijah’s Promise’s work.
Elijah’s Promise also works with the New Brunswick Community Farmers Market, which will open next month, on June 15. The market has two locations — one at the NBCFM Market Pavilion at 178 Jones Avenue, which is open on Saturdays and Tuesdays, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. The second location is at Kilmer Square Park, located at 108 Albany Street, and operates on Wednesdays from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Customers can buy from vendors that sell fresh, high-quality fruits and vegetables, honey, eggs, and freshly baked goods.
William Hallman, a professor at Rutgers University and one of the founding members of the New Brunswick Community Farmers Market, said the market began in 2009 to help address food insecurity among New Brunswick residents.
“We match federal food assistance vouchers (including SNAP, WIC, and Senior Farmers Market Vouchers),” he said. “So if you have $10 in SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) you can walk home with $20 in produce. You can also get rewarded for taking nutrition lessons, getting your blood-pressure checked, and participating in other health screenings while at the NBCFM.”
In addition to the market, Hallman said that the NBCFM has created community gardens at the Jones Avenue site for community members to plant vegetables and raise marigolds for the city’s Day of the Dead celebration in October. The organization also provides produce to Rutgers students and to Meals-on-Wheels, which services older, food-insecure New Brunswick residents.
“It takes the support of the entire community to make the mission possible,” said Wilson.
In the face of adversity, local organizations are proving that change does not have to be a dream, it can be our reality. When we stand in solidarity and work together, we create room for hope and a better future where no one goes hungry.
