The Nourishing Knowledge Hub
Insights & Resources from New Jersey’s Food Security Communities
Food security in New Jersey is about more than a meal—it’s about dignity, equity, and the right for every person to thrive. The NJ Office of the Food Security Advocate (OFSA) works across and alongside our entire food ecosystem to put nourishing food within closer reach of every New Jerseyan, every day.
Just in time for the 2nd Annual Garden State Conference on Food Security, this new Nourishing Knowledge hub is where you’ll find multimedia stories from New Jersey’s local leaders and community members who are thinking and working more broadly about food, plus resources and data from OFSA that can help turn vision into action. There are also themed prompts for recording yourself during the conference and uploading your video clips to OFSA to keep the same energy of the day going in the weeks and months to come. Together, they show what it means to build a food-secure New Jersey—where local voices drive solutions and every table has enough.
How to Use this Page:
Connect your headphones or earbuds - this is a digital experience with audio and video.
Use the table of contents to jump to the sections you’re most interested in
OR, watch, listen and read in the order you choose. It’s up to you!
Respond to the prompts at the bottom of the page to record your own message to share!
Contents
First Time Conference Attendees
We recommend starting here
Gain helpful context for today by watching OFSA Executive Director Mark Dinglasan’s session on the State Action Plan at the 2024 Garden State Conference on Food Security.
Snackable Stories from Communities: Charitable Food and Agriculture
Hudson County
Food Security Task Force (2024)
Metuchen
Elijah’s Promise on Wheels & FPC Food Pantry
(2024)
Rutgers Food
Innovation Center
Assemblyman William Spearman
Middlesex County
Collective Impact (2024)
REPLENISH
Cold Storage Tour with Speaker Craig Coughlin, Assemblyman Sterley Stanley, and Mark Dinglasan
City Green’s
Good Food Bucks
Assemblywoman Rosaura Bagolie
Sussex County
Hunger Coalition (2024)
Landisville
Produce Co-op (2024)
Franklin Food Bank
Human Services Navigator
with Executive Director Derek Smith
School Meals & Local Agriculture
Soundbites: Perspectives on School Meals
Arlethia Brown
Senior Director, Camden School Nutrition
Lisa Pitz
Director, Center for Food Action; Hunger Free NJ
Part 1
Genesi Miles
Principal, Franklin High School
Arlethia Brown
Senior Director, Camden School Nutrition
Chesha Hodge
Director of the Coalition for Healthy Food in Newark Schools, Greater Newark Conservancy
Dr. John Ravally
Superintendent, Franklin Township Public Schools
Lisa Pitz
Director, Center for Food Action; Hunger Free NJ
Part 2
Assemblyman Roy Frieman
Deputy Majority Leader, District 16
Resources from the Food System and Food Security Field
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Hunger, Food Security, and Maternal Health
New Jersey Department of Health
-
NJ Statewide Food Security Index
Trenton Health Team
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School Meals and Summer EBT Application Toolkit
Hunger Free NJ
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Food and Nutrition Security Related Measures
Center for Nutrition & Health Impact
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Food Security Among New Jersey College Students
New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education
Respond to as many of these prompts as you’d like in selfie mode. Better yet, say hello to the attendee next to you and offer to help each other record or record a clip together!
Instructions:
Turn on your camera, introduce yourself (name, role, organization, and areas you serve), then respond to the prompt of your choice. Try to keep your video clip to one (1) minute or shorter.
Upload your video and submit using the form below the prompts.
Pass the Mic: What’s Your Story?
PROMPT 1
Nourishing Hope and Heart in Each Other – Continuing this Work
Share something you’ve adopted as a mantra for your work or your work/life harmony this year.
PROMPT 2
Savoring the
School Memories
Share a school meal memory that makes you smile. For example, if there was a certain meal that you enjoyed from the school cafeteria, or, if you didn’t buy school meals, maybe you have a great memory of an elder packing your lunch or a sibling making breakfast before you left for school. Tell us what made it special to you.
PROMPT 3
Conference Seeds To
Carry Away
Share one or two takeaways from the Garden State Conference on Food Security today. What has attending the conference today inspired you to do, believe or feel about ways we can continue coming together to set a table for all, for always?
Need a spark? Check out these videos to use as inspiration!
Heather Thompson
Table to Table
Jane Harrington Selitto, Director of SNAP-Ed, and Lauren Sprich, Nutrition Educator at Zufall Health
Christian Duborg, Food & Nutrition Policy Analyst for the Connecticut General Assembly Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity; and Dr. Dan Dychtwald, Policy Manager at OFSA