CFBNJ’s FY24-FY27
Strategic Plan

CFBNJ began in the back of our founder’s station wagon and is now the largest anti-hunger and anti-poverty organization in New Jersey. It has provided families across the state with food, help and hope for almost 50 years. While disaster and emergency response are part of our history – notably Superstorm Sandy in 2012 – nothing prepared CFBNJ for what could be needed during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2023. In the pandemic’s first days, CFBNJ shifted to a 24/7 operation as businesses shut down and people lost jobs. Neighbors who were already living paycheck to paycheck and many who had never needed help before found themselves struggling to pay bills and keep food on the table.

Thankfully, communities came together across sectors…

The state and federal government stepped in, and private citizens and companies were incredibly generous. CFBNJ protected its employees and reimagined food supply chains to develop a relevant response, resulting in emergency food distribution and other programs nearly doubling to meet the unprecedented need. Emerging from the pandemic, CFBNJ has 250 employees who fight hunger every day alongside 800 partner agencies. Together, we purchase and collect food for distribution; bolster food security through SNAP application assistance; invest in our network of community partners; inspire healthy lifestyles through nutrition education; advance economic mobility via workforce development efforts; reach communities with higher need and/or limited access to food; give voice to the complex ecosystem and root causes of food insecurity; and encourage others to get involved.

Food banking across the country is in the midst of a sea-change – actively re-examining traditional ways of providing service and working towards “new and better” responses. The 2022 White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition & Health, and Feeding America are shifting the national narrative, and CFBNJ is in lockstep with an ambitious vision to “reduce food insecurity by 50% by the year 2030.”

In many respects, New Jersey is leading the way. Our state is committed to public-private partnerships and bi-partisan solutions. Leaders hold a universal belief that New Jersey families should be food secure, especially in our Garden State. CFBNJ’s mission-focused growth and approach through the pandemic has largely been possible through grit and passion. As we reflect on the problem of food insecurity, as well as solutions and our capabilities, we acknowledge that our work has been hampered by a need to more deeply understand those we serve, a lack of technology, a limited ability to measure effectiveness and impact, and the limitations of our antiquated physical resources.

“New and Better” Distribution: Asking the Right Questions. Listening to our Partners. Developing Solutions. Responding Reliably and Consistently. Measuring Outcomes.

• Reliability – On Time, Every Time
  One of the most critical ways we add value to our Community Partners is by being a dependable partner ourselves. This means our Partners can count on us to fill their food orders correctly and deliver them on time. Food security means counting on consistent access to food; our Partners need to know they can count on us to provide this.
• A “Food and…” Approach
  Food alone does not lead to food security. It’s when food is paired with other supportive solutions, such as job training, financial literacy, SNAP application assistance and nutrition education, that neighbors are on their way to economic stability. Our goal is to increase the percentage of our network partners that offer supportive solutions with food distribution, with the outcome being an increase in sustainable improvement outcomes for neighbors.
• Where Are We Not Meeting the Need?
  We need to understand need at the county and community level in order to increase the percentage of communities meeting service targets. Utilization of a new dynamic community prioritization tool will be key to this new level of understanding and to building local community connections and collaboration.
• Reduce Disparities by Race and Place
  Geographic data reveals that communities which are predominantly Black and Brown are disproportionately less food secure. Our solutions need to work in concert with other partners to address systemic issues of poverty in our state.
• What Does Our Network Really Need from Us?
  Instead of making assumptions, we will establish an operating structure to meet our network’s needs. Practically speaking, this is likely a significant restructuring endeavor, with incrementally beneficial short-term solutions.
• How Happy Are our Partners and Neighbors with our Collective Response?
  Partner satisfaction feedback will be routinely solicited and measured against goals, with no fear of failure when piloting new ideas.
• Model Best Practices: Our Role is to Serve as a Resource
  We will actively work to inform and lead on developing operational best practices and grow the percent of our partners using these “blue ribbon” standards.

Healthy and Nourishing is a Priority Focus for Neighbor Wellness

• Nutritional Value of Food is Key
  CFBNJ will establish and operationalize a community- and neighbor-informed nutritional policy. We will deploy it network-wide with an intended outcome of increasing the number of neighbors showing improved health outcomes and/or satisfaction with healthy food choices. Our neighbors recognize the value of nourishing food and are asking for it. We will measure our success by how well we are meeting demand, specifically the percentage of “green” foods requested that we fulfill.
• Produce and Protein Will Be Our Purchasing Priorities
  There is tremendous opportunity to work with farmers and retail partners to claim food surplus and expand nutrient-dense food sources throughout our network. There is also opportunity to create new farming partnerships to plant and harvest what our neighbors most want. This is where investments in cold storage, gleaning and nutrition education intersect.
• Nutrition Education and Medically Tailored Meals Can Lead to Positive Health Outcomes
  We know that the power of food goes beyond helping someone not feel hungry; it can lead to improved health outcomes and address medical conditions. We will continue to provide nutrition education so individuals know-how to best tailor their food choices to promote positive health outcomes, and we will work with our partners to create medically tailored meals to address specific health conditions.
• Incubating Best-in-Class Direct Services
  Whether it is through our two CFBNJ-run pantries, ten sites visited by our mobile pantries, or a healthy pantry toolkit being deployed to pantries across the state, we are committed to piloting and modeling best-in-class food security practices and investing to implement these services across our network.

Improve and Serve as an Activist and Investor in the NJ Food Security Ecosystem

• Engaging in Public Policy – Taking a Seat at the Table – Will be Essential
  To achieve our vision, it will take partnership and collaboration across sectors at significantly higher levels than the organization has ever achieved in its history.
• Our Network is our Most Important Asset
  We need to know each other better, listen more, stand united and support partners’ various needs more completely in service of neighbors. The actions outlined in our plan advance these objectives with measurable goals.
• Serve as a Catalyst for Change
  We know that CFBNJ is lacking in technology and capacity, but these deficiencies are even more pronounced at the partner level. We will dedicate significant technical and financial assistance to building our network’s capacity in ways determined by the community and the neighbors they serve.
• A Significant Increased Role in Local, State, and Federal Advocacy Efforts
  Leveraging knowledge from its operations, partnerships and neighbors, CFBNJ can lead the creation of a comprehensive policy platform to inform polices at the local, state and federal level that that impact food insecurity. For example, we have influenced changes to the state’s policy on ensuring hungry children receive supplemental lunches and recommended improvements to SNAP application assistance.
• Incubate and Pilot Evidenced Best Practices of Creatively Fighting Food Insecurity
  We will share research and findings with other New Jersey food banks and our partner network.