OVERVIEW:

Burlington County, the largest county in New Jersey, covers 827 square miles, extending from the Delaware River to the Great Bay of the Atlantic Ocean.  The county is primarily known for its agriculture, but there is considerable manufacturing, particularly along the Delaware River waterfront.  It is ranked 11th in population with the poverty level being in the bottom 5th among the other nineteen counties in New Jersey.


POPULATION:

• (2007 US Census Bureau)  446,817

DEMOGRAPHICS:

(2006 data)

White:  77.2%
Black:  16.7%
Hispanic:  5.2%
Asian:  4%

25,323 people are living below poverty level, (5.8%)


USDA SNAP PARTICIPATING FAMILIES:

According to the Burlington County SNAP Office as of April 2008:

• There are 11,084 active recipients of SNAP benefits (5187 are children and 5897 adults)
• 31% of the recipients live in Pemberton Township, Burlington City and Beverly and Mt. Holly.

BURLINGTON COUNTY SNAP-Ed PROJECT:

Non Duplication:  there is not an EFNEP project in Burlington County

This project is designed to provide nutrition education to SNAP eligible adults, pregnant teens, youth ages pre-K through high school.  The education will be limited to those sites where 50% or greater are SNAP eligible or where 50% or more of the youth are receiving free or reduced lunch in their schools.  

The following needs will be addressed:

• Inability to have SNAP benefits and food budget last through the month
• Limited food preparation and food storage facilities
• High reliance on convenience foods and fast food restaurants
• Limited nutrition and food safety knowledge
• High consumption of high fat foods and low consumption of fruits, vegetables and dairy products

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES:

• Encourage participants to more closely follow the MyPyramid Eating Plan.
• Deliver behavioral focused outcome based nutrition education to SNAP eligibles with the desired outcome being to increase the intake of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk products daily.
• Emphasize the importance of being physically active everyday as part of a healthy lifestyle.
• Help SNAP eligibles understand how to eat a healthy diet on a limited food budget using food stamp benefits and managing their food resources.
• To help to understand how to balance caloric intake from food and beverages with calories expended.
• Promote the SNAP-Ed project and its statewide mission
• Improve collaboration with existing agencies that currently work with low income audiences.
• Participate in the statewide State Nutrition Action Plan process
• To build relationships to be able to make referrals of SNAP eliglbles to other nutrition and health related services and to access food stamp benefits.

PROGRAM ACTIVITIES:

• Deliver approved age appropriate nutrition education to adults, pregnant teens and youth.
• Provide in-service training to food service personnel, resident managers, teachers, parents, regarding nutrition education and food safety
• Participate in health fairs targeting low income to disseminate nutrition information per the SNAP-Ed guidelines

EVALUATION:

The evaluation methodology which is used includes an overall measurement of the impact of nutrition education amongst the adult population of SNAP participants. The CRS reporting system is used for Pre and Post Diet Recalls and Behavioral Checklists. Only the Behavioral Checklist is used in programs lasting less than 6 weeks. An evaluation report of the project will be submitted for possible publication in a peer reviewed Nutrition and/or Family and Consumer Sciences journal.

COLLABORATIONS:
The Children's Home
Project TEACH
WorkForce
Catholic Charities
Pemberton Township School District
Mt. Holly School District
Burlington County Community Action Program
Beverly City School District
Burlington City School District
Burlington County Department of Human Services
Burlington County SNAP Office
Burlington County Health Department
South Jersey Perinatal Cooperation

Contact:

Tracy Little, Program Associate
Burlington County SNAP-Ed
RCE of Burlington County
49 Rancocas Road
Mt. Holly, NJ. 08060
Phone: 609-265-5914
Fax: 609-265-5613
e-mail: little@njaes.rutgers.edu