1.5 million people in NJ live too far from any affordable supermarket

🍅 There are 50 food deserts in New Jersey

🍅 Communities don't have access to affordable, nutritious food

🍅 The NJEDA is trying to combat food deserts with various initiatives

There are 50 food desert communities in all 21 counties of New Jersey, affecting 1.5 million residents.

What qualifies as being a food desert?

A food desert means a community has limited or no access to affordable, healthy, and nutritious foods.

However, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority has been taking a comprehensive approach in trying to alleviate food deserts and minimizing the number of people living in these communities, said NJEDA Chief Economic Security Officer, Tara Colton.

Some food deserts are ranked higher in the NJEDA’s analysis.

For example, Camden, Atlantic City, Salem, parts of Newark, and Trenton show to have much higher needs, according to their data. However, further down the list, there are still towns with issues, but they are not as extreme. A lot of that comes down to affordability and accessibility, Colton explained.

Access to food can take different forms, she said.

“If you live next door to a grocery store but the prices are so high you can’t afford to shop there, then you don’t have access. If you live half a mile from somewhere that offers reasonable food, but you have to walk with a baby stroller under a bridge to get there and it’s not safe, then that’s not access,” Colton said.

How is the NJEDA helping food desert communities?

The NJEDA views food deserts as an economic imperative, Colton said. Gov. Phil Murphy and his partners in the legislative, specifically Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, have equipped the NJEDA with $300 million in resources to help combat food insecurity and alleviate food deserts, she explained.

So, the NJEDA is taking on different initiatives to do so. One involves issuing tax credits that will allow for the development of brand new supermarkets in areas that have long faced vacant stores, or never had a large-scale retailer, Colton said.

The NJEDA is providing funds for community-driven local initiatives that have innovative ideas that not only bring people to food but also bring food to people.

“So that could be a mobile market or a van or really exciting work around connecting farmers and locally grown produce with community organizations. So, we’re trying to deploy resources smartly and efficiently, but also recognize that what Atlantic City needs versus what Camden needs versus what Salem needs, is going to vary,” Colton said.

So, they need a toolkit of programs that different communities around the state can tap into.

Open Applications for Tax Credit Auction

Starting on August 28, The NJEDA will open applications to auction up to $20 million in corporate and insurance tax credits through its Food Desert Relief Tax Credit Auction.
This year’s tax credit auction follows the successful sale of $15 million in tax credits during the first tax credit auction in 2023, she said.

They sell a portion of the tax credits to eligible businesses that want to buy them and, hopefully, use them for food deserts. The businesses obtain tax credits at a discount of up to 15 percent. This will help the NJEDA to use the proceeds from the tax credit auction to fund programs in the food desert communities throughout the state, Colton said.

Last year, Gov. Murphy was pushing for the NJEDA to provide more dedicated resources to Atlantic City, given the years of challenges of accessing quality food retail. So, a pilot program was launched that makes grants available up to half a million dollars for innovative food security and food retail ideas.

“What we’re hoping to do is use the proceeds from this tax credit auction to bring similar programs like that throughout the state; being able to support and fund interesting innovative catalytic ideas from Camden to Newark to Salem, and everywhere in between,” Colton said.

Who is eligible for the tax credit auction?

Eligible bidders must be New Jersey corporate business tax or insurance premiums tax filers. Companies do not need to be in a food desert or in a food industry to buy tax credits through the auction. Companies can bid for tax credits at a discount of up to 15 percent.

Applications open on Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. and close on Sept. 27 at 5 p.m.

One size does not fit all

It’s important to note that there is not a one-size-fits-all solution to food insecurity and food deserts in New Jersey, Colton said.

For example, the governor helped support a converted supermarket on a bus in Atlantic City, she said. It was an old New Jersey Transit bus that was retro-fitted, run by Virtua Health, and is a supermarket on wheels. It also runs through Camden and Burlington counties.

This is not something you would normally think is an option, but it’s exciting to see all these creative ideas come together to help support food desert communities in the state, Colton said.

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