New Jersey Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program

The mission of New Jersey Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program (NJFSNEP) is to foster food security through nutrition education to New Jersey's limited resource audiences.  We accomplish our mission by providing behaviorally-focused, outcome-based nutrition education classes in small group adult settings, and with youth.

Rutgers Cooperative Extension has been conducting Lead and Asthma Outreach in Urban Areas as part of its program on improving the indoor environment. This program includes training of governmental agency personnel who themselves do outreach, and outreach to childcare providers on avoiding asthma triggers.

Lead Poisoning Prevention:
Outreach has consisted largely in the form of one-day train-the-trainer courses on lead poisoning prevention education. Audiences have consisted mainly of agency personnel, including welfare caseworkers, community health advisors, other public health officials and community outreach workers, primarily in Newark and Patterson. Working in conjunction with New Jersey Community Action, this effort has provided daylong training to some 300 community. We have also collaborated on a lead poisoning prevention - asthma education-awareness project in Camden, in conjunction with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey- School of Osteopathic Medicine. Community outreach educators from the Camden Office of Economic Opportunity were trained in these topics, and conduct awareness projects and research surveys in the city of Camden.

Asthma Awareness: 
Training programs have been provided for daycare operators, school nurses, teachers and parents in urban areas (cities of Camden and Elizabeth, NJ on the management of asthma and other indoor pollutants. Many of these classes have been presented as part of a program conducted by the Maternal and Child Health Consortium or the American Lung Association. Some 400 childcare operators and school nurses have been trained in the past 18 months. 

We are also working on an EPA project to conduct asthma awareness/ management programs in Puerto Rico, where the asthma incidence is 50 % higher than in the US (Source: US Centers for Disease Control). This work is being done in collaboration with Dr Peter Guarnaccia (Dept of Human Ecology, RU) and Dr Joseph Laquatra. Cornell University and with the help of the University of Puerto Rico and the metropolitan University, San Juan.

The New Brunswick Urban Ecology Program, in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, has been studying the causes of food insecurity in the state, and initiating projects to minimize food insecure communities and the root causes of food insecurity.  Community Food Security (CFS) refers to the extent that individuals and households have access to sufficient food and a balanced diet, and includes many aspects of nutrition, ecology and economics.  The program seeks to facilitate the growth of sustainable food systems focused on the issues of food, nutrition and the environment.  The NBUEP has developed the following community-based programs: the Children's Gardening and School Yard Ecology Programs, the Youth Farmstand Project, and the Community Gardening & Nutrition Program

More specifically, a CFS slide show and narrative was created to educate regulators about the issues of food security.  A series of "tip sheets" continues to be produced which outline best practices for various activities related to CFS.  We are working with several school districts in New Jersey to increase the usage of locally grown produce in school feeding programs.  We have performed an analysis of the statewide school breakfast program, in an attempt to understand its shortcomings, and suggest strategies for improvement.  We also provide ongoing support for New Jersey residents and organizations needing help with starting CFS projects such as community gardens, schoolyard gardens, and youth farmstands.  For more information please click here. For more information please click here.

Cook College's Department of Landscape Architecture conducted a study on "The Value of Green in the City". They compared the landscape greeness for two communities in New Jersey, New Brunswick and Highland Park, and established an economic value relationship between patterns of the urban forest and residential property value. The findings of their study showed New Brunswick is, overall a less green region and that there is no statistical correlation of greeness to housing value in the neighbourhod area. However, Highland Park, which is a greener area has a statistical correlation of greeness to housing value. The results of this study suggest that a green infrastructure contributes indirectly to the tax base of a community, making a strong case for the development and funding of urban forestry as an important part of municipal economic plans.

The Center for Land Planning and Design conducted an extensive study on the cities of East Orange and Newark. The purpose of the project was to demonstrate the significance of natural resources to the quality and enhancement of urban life. They conducted a city wide analysis to provide an overview of the existing natural resource base and identify problems and oppurtunities availible to the city. The findings of their study showed that the cities of East Orange and Newark had an excellent foundation, since thay have an existing tree resource. However, these resources are approaching a period of decline. In order to maintain a long term sustainability, the cities should consider launching a multi-faceted program of policy development, physical improvements, and managment strategies. The two key components to this program are the urban forester position and a computer based street tree inventory. The data collected by such an inventory would be invaluable in shaping and informing long range planning and management programs. Many economic benefits will also result from the presence and management of a healthy urban forest. This will lead to an improvement in the quality of life in this urban setting in many ways, since the members of the community will benefit from efforts that lead to the longevity and health of its biotic resources. The urban infrastructure will also benefit greatly from these recommendations.

The Urban Gardening Program and Brownfields Restoration Project, a program of Rutgers Cooperative Extension housed at Rutgers-Newark works with community members to develop gardens on vacant lots in the urban setting. The project has program for Master Urban Gardener Training, which it will begin to bring together with the Essex County Master Gardener Program.

The National Center for Neighborhood and Brownfields Redevelopment at the E. J. Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy has been designated by the Rutgers Board of Governors as a strategic planning initiative of the University. It's mission is to establish itself as a pre-eminent university-based center for neighborhood and brownfield redevelopment focused on the three themes of service, education and research. Please click here for more information.

Rutgers Center for Land Planning & Design has emerged from the need for applied research on a number of land planning and community design issues. The Center brings together a variety of disciplines with expertise in such areas as landscape architecture, land economics, natural resources, geographic information systems, remote sensing, urban planning, and human ecology. The purpose of the Center for Land Planning & Design is to facilitate multidisciplinary research that examines the linkage between land use policy and the resultant physical environment and, conversely, investigates how natural and cultural resources may influence land use policy decisions. Additional information is availible here .

The Community Academic Patnership for the Environment (formerly Community University Consortium for Regional Environmental Justice) was formed in 1995 to create an information and research infrastructure for environmental justice in New Jersey, New York, and Puerto Rico. Almost all of it's resources are available to the public. On-line access to some of the resources is limited to consortium members, other environmental justice organizations, and students. Click here for more info.

The mission of the Center for Urban Community Leadership, housed at the Rutgers-Camden campus is to foster understanding and acceptance by American leaders of the importance of providing new organizational environments, strategies, and building bridges and partnerships between urban communities and academia for dealing with race relations and urban development. Through social action research, leadership development, training and community partnerships, the Center provides a forum for the analysis, discussions and assessment of policy issues, while developing new knowledge regarding strategic approaches to meet the changing need of urban communities. For more information please click here.

Science in the Schoolyard (course #: 11:015:295; index#: 68191)
A course with includes designing and digging two gardens at local primary schools, aimed at teaching kids science in a hands-on manner.  One night a week, and three weekend days at the primary school during the semester.  All majors welcome. One credit.  Please contact: jmomsen@rci.rutgers.edu.

Urban Forestry Programs
Cook College's Department of Landscape Architecture (Dr. Jean Marie Hartman, project director) has created a coloring book for children in urban environments entitled "Elements of the Urban Forest." The book includes pages on the benefits of trees in a city, how to plant and care for a tree, what can harm trees in the city and pages to allow identification of a few common urban trees. Cost, $.50 plus mailing costs; bulk rate on request. Contact Debbie Greenwood, 732-932-0085 or by email at dgreenwo@rci.rutgers.edu.

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Rutgers Cooperative Extension