Title
Dept/ Agency: Offices of Municipal Council/City Clerk
Action: ( ) Ratifying (X) Authorizing ( ) Amending
Type of Service: Resolution of Support
Purpose: To support the creation of a Food Insecurity Commission.
Sponsor(s): Council Member, Dupr? L. Kelly
Additional Information:
Resolution encouraging the Office of the Mayor to support and establish a Food Insecurity Commission for the City of Newark.
body
WHEREAS, in the United States food insecurity is one of the biggest threats to public health and safety at any time, but never more so than during the COVID-19 Pandemic; and
WHEREAS, food deprivation is defined as food intake below the dietary required minimum energy level; and
WHEREAS, Newark is New Jersey's third largest food desert, which means at least thirty percent (30%) of residents have to travel more than a mile for healthy and affordable food; and
WHEREAS, food insecurity according to the USDA's measure is the lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and/or limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods; and
WHEREAS, food insecure households will need to make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as housing or medical bills, and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods. Food insecurity has been an issue in low-income communities like Newark, and with the COVID-19 Pandemic, food resources and income became increasingly at risk; and
WHEREAS, a Rutgers University, GIS analysis, to measure food insecurity in Newark and mark all possible food resources compared to higher income communities of a similar size to see how pivotal small businesses such as bodegas, community gardens and delicatessens are to low-income communities that lack proper grocery stores. This information became an interactable map, it theorized that Newark lacked a large numb...
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