It’s an uncomfortable reality in New Jersey: Food waste is rampant even as hundreds of thousands of residents lack access to an adequate, consistent supply of food.

In a bid to chip away at those twin problems, lawmakers on Thursday approved a package of 14 measures that would promote food donations by farmers and retailers, provide grants to reduce hunger on college campuses and create new resources to connect residents with emergency food services, among other initiatives.

“Too many people in the state of New Jersey have to choose between paying their bills and feeding their families on a regular basis,” Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, said during a news conference ahead of the votes. “They’re your neighbors, they’re friends, they’re people we all deal with and see on a regular basis.”

The Assembly Human Services Committee approved nearly all the measures unanimously. Among the few that generated debate was one, A-4700, that would encourage supermarkets to open in so-called urban food deserts — areas without easy access to nutritious foods, such as fresh fruits as vegetables — by offering them tax incentives and access to special licenses to sell alcohol.

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Such licenses are usually hard to come by under New Jersey’s notoriously restrictive liquor laws.

Coughlin said he expects the legislation to have bipartisan support and that the package could receive a vote by the full Assembly as soon as Dec. 17. To become law, the package must then be approved by the Senate, which has yet to take action, and then signed by Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat.

Murphy, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment on the legislation but said the state must take steps to reduce hunger and linked the issue to a separate policy debate about increasing the minimum wage.

"Governor Murphy believes that enacting a $15 minimum wage for New Jersey workers is one of the most important ways the state can fight hunger and help the hundreds of thousands of working families in New Jersey that continue to live in poverty," Alyana Alfaro, the spokeswoman, said in a statement.

The 14-measure package is the first major push to address hunger under the leadership of Coughlin, who said during his swearing-in as speaker in January he would make the issue a top priority.

Roughly one in 10 people in New Jersey are food insecure, meaning they lack consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life, according to an estimate by the nonprofit Feeding America. Those numbers include more than 268,000 children.

The legislative effort also follows a recent series on food waste by the USA TODAY Network New Jersey that examined the worst offenders and the innovators leading the charge to cut food waste in the state. Both New Jersey and the federal government have set a goal to cut food waste in half by 2030.

“Speaker Coughlin commends Gannett for its informative series regarding hunger in New Jersey,” Coughlin spokeswoman Liza Acevedo said in a statement, referring to the Network’s publisher. “Shining a light on this serious problem is very helpful in terms of raising awareness and spurring people to action.”

Efforts to fight hunger often include discussions of food waste given the sheer scale of food that goes unused in the United States — about 40 percent, according to several studies — and the potential for it to be redirected to people in need.

Food waste is also a growing environmental concern. That wasted food accounts for up to a third of the water used by agriculture, whether to irrigate crops or to water livestock, and as much methane emitted into the atmosphere as 37 million cars, or one of every seven cars on the road. Methane, a greenhouse gas more damaging than carbon dioxide, is released by wasted food as it decomposes in landfills.

There is room for improvement at every step of the supply chain, from farmers who may leave fields unharvested to supermarkets who reject produce for cosmetic reasons and consumers confused by “sell by” or “best use” dates who throw out perfectly good food too early.

The measures approved Thursday seek to address those dynamics by, among other proposals:

setting up an online portal to connect farmers or retailers with excess food with food banks;

ordering the creation of an “Anti-Hunger Link” on all state websites to provide information on emergency food services;

directing the Department of Agriculture to establish a public awareness campaign to teach residents about food labels, wasteful shopping and food storage; and

creating a New Jersey Food Waste Task Force to recommend further government action.

The bill to encourage supermarkets to open in food deserts was praised by several people who testified at Thursday's hearing but criticized by others who thought it would create unfair competition with existing stores.

"In simplistic terms, A-4700 will allow the Legislature to pick and choose winners and losers in our already overly competitive marketplace," Paul Santelle, executive director of the New Jersey Liquor Store Alliance, said in an email following his testimony. "Not only in respect to liquor stores, but even food stores."

Santelle stressed that his organization supports the intent behind the bill and the broader legislative package.

“Our concern is for the existing grocery stores who are potentially struggling," said Mary Ellen Peppard, assistant vice president for government affairs at the New Jersey Food Council, which represents food retailers. "This type of bill could potentially make it more difficult for these existing stores because now they would have to compete with some new stores that have financial assistance and have new liquor licenses."

Other anti-hunger advocates have praised Coughlin’s “comprehensive approach” to tackling a complex problem.

“Over 800,000 of our New Jersey neighbors struggle to consistently put nutritious food on the table, and the number will only grow unless we take coordinated action,” Carlos Rodriguez, president and CEO of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, said earlier this month in a statement endorsing the legislation. “These proposals demonstrate the critical role — and the potential — of policy to address food insecurity.”

Email: pugliese@northjersey.com