About Us
Fueling Change. Feeding All.
New Jersey is one of the wealthiest states in the nation. Yet, hunger is close by. It strikes your child’s classmates. Your elderly neighbor. Maybe even people in your own family. Hunger is stealthy. It can invade our lives in one crushing moment – a lost job, a debilitating accident, a serious illness.
There is no one face of hunger. Because hunger hurts all of us. That is why it takes a collective effort to end hunger. It takes public and political will. It takes widespread change.
Using a strategic combination of state and federal advocacy and local grassroot activism, Hunger Free New Jersey takes a comprehensive approach to solving hunger.
How we fight hunger.
- Educate decision-makers
- Advocate for stronger laws & policies
- Mobilize grassroots advocates
- Engage in strategic communications
Our Wins
New Jersey has made gains in recent years in feeding more children through federal child nutrition programs, but much more work remains. HFNJ works with partners across the state to implement effective child nutrition programs and to coordinate service across programs.
Through state policy changes, more people in need of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP, aka food stamps) will be able to receive this critical aid. In 2022, legislation passed that will increase SNAP outreach throughout the state and provide a state SNAP supplement that ensures a higher minimum benefit amount for seniors and people with disabilities.
The Campus Free Hunger Act was signed into law in May 2019. This promises to help more students find the support they need so they don’t have to choose between school and food. Hunger Free New Jersey worked with state lawmakers and other advocates to enact this beneficial law. HFNJ convenes the Hunger Free Campus Network, formed in spring 2022, a group that brings together faculty, staff, and students across the state to share ideas and information to address student food insecurity.
We work at both the state and federal levels to improve policy and funding for nutrition programs. In 2022, state legislation was signed into law that expands access to the New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, aka food stamps), bolster school meal programs, support summer meals programs and establish the Office of the Food Insecurity Advocate to strengthen and streamline statewide anti-hunger efforts.
Together we can fight hunger.
Our History
Hunger Free New Jersey is the leading advocacy organization working to end hunger in New Jersey. We are a program of Center for Food Action (CFA), which provides emergency services to northern New Jersey’s poorest and most vulnerable residents.
Recognizing that food pantries cannot meet all the needs, CFA formed the organization in 1980 to advance comprehensive solutions to hunger.
Thanks to...
Our Supporters
Meet the Team
Lisa Pitz
Director
Lisa Pitz is the Director of Hunger Free New Jersey, the leading statewide anti-hunger advocacy organization working to change policy and practice to ensure that all New Jerseyans have access to healthy food.
Lisa has served in a variety of roles at Hunger Free New Jersey for over 20 years, working with a broad group of community partners throughout the state to educate the public and policy makers about hunger and to create policy and program solutions that improve access to critical nutrition assistance programs like SNAP, school meals, summer and afterschool meals and senior nutrition programs.
Lisa has a Master of Social Work degree and over 30 years’ experience working on hunger, poverty, and social justice issues.
Contact Lisa at lpitz@cfanj.org
Mallie Romanowski
Communications Specialist
Mallie Romanowski is the Communications Director for Hunger Free New Jersey, the leading statewide anti-hunger advocacy organization working to change policy and practice to ensure that all New Jerseyans have access to healthy food.
Mallie has previously worked for Enroll America, the New Jersey State Assembly, and the City of Philadelphia.
Contact Mallie at mromanowski@cfanj.org
