Overview

Population

• The U.S. Census data shows total population for Passaic County of 489,049. Our target areas are Paterson, with a population of 149,222 and Passaic, with a population of 67,861.
• According to the New Jersey State Census Data, Passaic County ranks eighth out of 21 counties for population size. It has a land area of 185.1 square miles. However, 85 percent of the people live on one third of the land, located in the lower part of the county. The largest municipalities are Paterson, Passaic, Clifton, and Wayne.

Demographics

• Forty-three percent of the County's total population is non-white. County make-up is as follows: Caucasian 304, 678 (62%), Hispanic 146,714 (30%), and African American 63,576 (13%).
• The bulk of the county's limited-resource population is situated in the Passaic-Clifton-Paterson urban area, with these cities being the most densely populated cities in Passaic County, including more than 60 percent of the culturally diverse population.
• Passaic County has the largest volume of recent foreign immigrants (+0.7). More than 33 percent of the population in the areas of Paterson and Passaic are foreign-born residents, increasing dramatically from the 1980's. Mexican was the fastest growing among the state's Hispanics. The largest increase in Mexicans occurred in Passaic County (+14,669).
• The state's largest Hispanic group is Puerto Ricans. Passaic County is one of the five counties that maintain the majority of the state's Puerto Ricans, 60. 3 percent as of the year 2000.
• Eighty- four percent of the children in the Passaic City Schools and seventy-eight percent of the children in Paterson City Schools qualify for free and reduced school lunches. Paterson and Passaic remain to be a target area for reaching our clientele.
• In Paterson, the current poverty rate is 23 percent. In Passaic, the poverty rate is 22 percent.

USDA Food Stamp Eligible Families

• According to the 2000 U.S. Census Bureau, 20 percent of the county's children live below the poverty level, and 23 percent of the children live in a single-parent household. In addition, in Passaic and Paterson, more than 25% of families with single parents have children under the age of 18.
• The Food Stamp Office reports that out of 21 counties, Passaic ranks fourth in the number of persons receiving food stamp benefits, and in the number of households receiving TANF, with 16,492 food stamp eligible households.

Passaic County Project

The Passaic County Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program targets food-stamp eligible people and culturally diverse recipients in the municipalities of Clifton, Paterson, and Passaic. This program targets high-risk families by providing information on nutrition, menu planning, food budgeting, and food safety and home management.

Passaic County is located in the Northern New Jersey region. The county, once considered a major industrial center, has experienced a tremendous loss of employment opportunities. The present economic base consists primarily of non-manufacturing wholesale retail service industries. The median household income in our target areas is as follows: Passaic, $33,594 and Paterson, $32,778.

Non-Duplication of Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Services

The Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program (FSNEP) in Passaic County serves food stamp audiences in the communities of Clifton, Paterson and Passaic; areas that are outside the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) service areas of Passaic and Paterson. In the cities of Passaic, and Paterson, the EFNEP program is limited to nutrition education for English and Spanish speaking clients with children. FSNEP programming in Passaic and Paterson involves those individuals not already served by EFNEP, including: seniors; adults participating in job training programs that last less than six weeks; individuals with no families; students in grades 9 through 12 at Passaic County Vo-Tech, Eastside High School and JFK High School; elementary school students in School # 17 in Paterson, Schools # 1, #7, #11 in Passaic and School # 12 in Clifton, LaVida Child Care Center, Paterson Recreation Department and Boys and Girls Club of Clifton. The Previously mentioned schools have more than 50 percent of the students receiving free or reduced lunches.

Project Objectives

To promote the FSNEP Project and its statewide mission to food stamp eligible residents in Passaic County, not already served by EFNEP to increase food security through nutrition education programs to Food Stamp eligible seniors, adults and youth.

Project Activities

• To provide behaviorally focused, learner-driven, outcome-based nutrition education to adult and senior food stamp recipients (English and Spanish speaking) via lessons that have been approved by the state nutrition specialist(s).
• To assess present and future needs for nutrition education in Passaic County
• To distribute and disseminate information about FSNEP and specific nutrition education opportunities and activities available to the target population(s)
• To provide nutrition education that will assist in improving the dietary habits, food safety practices, and the eating behaviors of youth in schools where more than 50 percent of the students receive free or reduced lunches and are not serviced by EFNEP. This will be done through the delivery of age-appropriate, behaviorally focused nutrition education lessons that are approved by the state nutrition specialist(s).
• To collaborate with the CUMAC-ECHO food distribution program and the Emergency Food Coalition. The CUMAC-ECHO food distribution program provides food at its food pantry to food stamp participants who have used all of their food stamps by the end of the month. The distribution center is utilized for recruitment of food stamp eligible participants for our educational programming and as a network resource for doing the same in over 15 emergency food pantries.

Collaborative Relationships

RCE of Passaic County
Hillside Food Bank of New Jersey
CUMAC-ECHO

Contact

Deborah Brancato, Program Associate
Passaic County FSNEP
RCE of Passaic County
317 Pennsylvania Ave.
Paterson, NJ 07503-1740
Phone: (973) 881-2779
Fax: (973) 881-0747
Email: Brancato@aesop.rutgers.edu