Community Food Security Research – Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement

Middlesex County Food Dating Label Education Project (2022)

This report analyzes the ways in which individual pantries throughout Middlesex County interact with food product date labels, food waste, staff and client education, and the impact that COVID-19 has had on those topics. This project has two main objectives: (1) understanding what practices food pantries in Middlesex County currently have in place regarding food […]

Middlesex County Emergency Food Organizations and Non-Food Services during the Covid Pandemic (2021)

In partnership with the Rutgers University Collaborative Center for Community-based Research and Service, and REPLENISH, the Middlesex County Food Bank, this report offers some insight about the non-food challenges that pantries confronted during the pandemic, how pantry staff navigated the demand for these services during the pandemic through July of 2021,and it provides some idea about […]

food pantry covid pandemic Rutgers university

Middlesex County Emergency Food System Covid-19 Pandemic Report (2021)

This report examines how emergency food providers in Middlesex County, New Jersey, changed their practices during the pandemic. The report looks at how food pantries navigated challenges related to food demand, supply, and distribution, and highlights the experiences of individual pantries. Read the Report

Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on People, Pantries and Practices in the Emergency Food System (2020)

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the emergency food system, challenging a system that was already operating with few resources. Food pantries developed strategies to meet surging need while navigating COVID-19 safety challenges and dramatic shifts in food supply. This report investigates how a set of food pantries in Metuchen and Edison, […]

Innovative Practices in Emergency Food Delivery (2019)

Ralph W. Voorhees Public Service Fellows Hina Arshad, Nashia Basit, Cassie Bolinger, Aiza Nageeb, Julien Rosenbloom with Evan Iacobucci, Planning and Public Policy Doctoral Program. During the Fall 2019 semester, Middlesex County Food Organization and Outreach Distribution Services (MCFOODS), Unity Square community organization, and other partners engaged the Ralph W. Voorhees Fellows to research innovative food […]

Voorhees Fellows Rutgers Bloustein food insecurity research

Food Insecurity in Middlesex County (2018)

Riley Link, Curtis McDaniel, Daniel Rodriguez, and Sabeen Rokerya, 2018 Ralph W. Voorhees Public Service Fellows, partnered with the Middlesex County Food Organization and Outreach Distribution Services (MCFOODS) during the Fall 2018 semester to research food insecurity in Middlesex County. MCFOODS asked the fellows to explore whether there are areas of unmet demand for food […]