Hi everyone,
My community is Bridgeton, New Jersey.
Population as of 2021- 26,610
Median Income- $39,995
Percentage or number of persons living in poverty-35.1%
I collected prices of groceries at my local ShopRite grocery store
Milk- $4.89 per gallon
Bread- $1.29 ShopRite brand white bread
Bag of apples- $5.29 ($1.76/lb)
Bag of carrots- $0.99 per bag of ShopRite brand
Large container of yogurt- $3.49 for 32oz container
2-liter of soda- $2.79 (Pepsi)
Bag of chips- $3.49 (Lays original)
Pack of cookies- $4.99 (Oreos)
Nothing above was listed as organic
The median household income of my area is roughly 66% of that of the United States, this is concerning as New Jersey has one of the highest rates of property taxes in the nation. For instance, my taxes last year were roughly $8,500 and this is considered pretty average for the area and below average if you were to ask someone from the northern part of New Jersey. This very much is an issue if your household is only making $40,000 per year. Also, the average rate of persons living below poverty is more than three times the national average and I would venture to say that number is probably a low end estimate as there is a large population of undocumented migrant workers that reside in the area and they do not earn very good wages. All this being stated poverty is going to be the biggest driving force behind how people are buying groceries. People may have to sacrifice health for quantity of food. Cheaper, less nutritious, foods are going to be more appealing for people trying to feed multiple people while trying to also keep their bills in check.
While trying to get the best deals on food is going to be at the top of people’s lists it might not be all that easy to get to the stores that have the best deals as they are not all centrally located and the city itself is not very small so transportation becomes an issue. Public transportation is very limited in this area as very limited bus routes(really only in and out of the city) and paid taxi services that can be rather pricey are the only real options for people that cannot afford personal vehicles.
I believe the community nurse would be most beneficial in this area through community organizing. There are many ways to get assistance within this community but it may not be within everyone’s grasp. By organizing the community outreach programs and maybe making events for things such as signing up for programs such as EBT, SNAP, or WIC it can be greatly helpful to increase impact on these people. There are many organizations that offer food pantries and drives to give back, so maybe something like organizing a bus or shuttle service to get people to and from these places would increase people’s food security. That being said teaching would definitely need to be implemented as well to make sure that people would know these things are available to them.
Resources-
Official site of the State of New Jersey. NJ SNAP | NJ SNAP. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2023, from
https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/njsnap/
Links to an external site.
U.S. Census Bureau quickfacts: United States. (n.d.). Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045221
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