Bergen County City Makes NJEDA List Of Food Desert Communities

FAIRVIEW, NJ — Fairview is one of 50 cities in New Jersey considered to be a food desert community by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

The authority's board approved a list of food desert communities throughout the state that may be eligible for Food Desert Relief Act funding.

Fairview had a score of 48.3 out of 100 for overall access to healthy foods, according to the authority’s list of state food desert communities.

The authority based its scores on a city's food retail environment, demographics and economic and health indicators.

Fairview residents share a retail area with Hudson County, where approximately 303,129 residents are underserved, according to the authority's report.

“Access is key,” Susan Colacurcio, executive director of Fairview’s Franciscan Community Development Center, said in the report. “These people don’t have cars, they can’t afford taxis or jitneys, so they have to be able to walk to the sore. The stroller is the universal carrier. If there’s a child in the stroller, they carry less food per trip.”

Gov. Phil Murphy in January 2021 signed into law the Economic Recovery Act, part of which included the Food Desert Relief Act, which required the development authority to address food insecurity within cities across the state.

The authority will provide up to $240 million in funding through the relief act, with up to $40 million per year for six years in tax credits, loans, grants and technical assistance to increase access to nutritious food and help alleviate food deserts.

A January U.S. Census Bureau survey found that almost one in 13 New Jersey households reported not having enough to eat in the past seven days, the authority reported. There were more than 1.5 million people in all 21 of the state’s counties living in a food desert community.

The development authority expected to issue regulations later this year, “a critical step in the development of any Food Desert Relief Act-related programs,” it said.

“New Jersey has long been at the forefront in the fight against food insecurity,” said Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, in a statement. “We have a moral duty to reduce food insecurity within our state’s borders and the programs we create under the Food Desert Relief Act will strengthen our ability to connect New Jerseyans in the 50 designated Food Desert communities with access to much-needed nutritious food.”

Here is a list of the food desert communities in North Jersey:

• Fairview (Bergen County)
• Passaic, Paterson, Prospect Park, Haledon and Hawthorne (Passaic County)
• Dover (Morris County)
• Newark, Irvington, East Orange, West Orange, Orange and Montclair (Essex County)
• Montague (Sussex County)

Go here to view the full list.