(upbeat music) - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato here.

We kick off the program with Tara Colton.

She's with us again.

Go back on our website and see previous segments she's done on childcare and its impact on the economy.

Tara Colton is Executive Vice President of Economic Security for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

That's the EDA, and Dr. Leeja Carter, CEO and founder of the Coalition for Food and Health Equity.

Tara and Leeja, thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you for having us.

- Great to be here.

- Let me share that the EDA is an underwriter of the programming that we do, particularly around important economic issues.

Leeja, let me ask you, could you, Dr. Carter, share exactly what the Coalition for Food and Health Equity is?

- Absolutely, the Coalition for Food and Health Equity, we refer to it as either the Coalition or Coalition Equity.

We're here to address both food security and health equity through a racial economic justice lens.

That simply means that in order to create healthy individuals, we need healthy communities, and it takes us all from our local, you know, community groups to our small businesses.

And so by building bridges between all of us in the community, we can really make each and every one of us healthier, whole, and be able to get those meals on the table.

- And we have your website up so people can find out more.

Tara, talk to us about the Sustain and Serve program and why it matters so much.

- Sure, the Sustain and Serve program is something that Governor Murphy launched, really, in the depths of COVID at the end of 2020 as a $2 million pilot.

And it has grown beyond our wildest dreams to a $57 million program where we make grants to about three dozen nonprofits including Leeja and the incredible team at Coalition.

And they use that funding to buy meals from hundreds of small restaurants throughout the state and then feed them to their neighbors in need.

Governor Murphy talks about this as a win win win, and it's really impactful to consider just how far each dollar spent through this program stretches, and how many people's lives are touched with them.

- Well said.

Dr. Carter, let me ask you this.

The importance of delivering food to people, talk about that as opposed to some people's idea of a traditional food pantry, you go there.

The food comes to you in this case.

Delivering food, those options, why are they so important?

- Yeah, I mean, I think that's an area that we take for granted that there's so many individuals that just can't make it to the store, can't make it to the food pantry for a variety of reasons.

The cost of transportation is expensive.

Also, carrying bags of food meals is heavy.

If you are struggling with some form of immobility issue or disability that might impede your ability to carry, then mobilizing food and produce in any form of way becomes invaluable to your daily survival.

And so at Coalition, that's what we do.

That's what I like to say is that we mobilize food.

We make it easy to access in that way, both with nutrition, but just with food, getting it to your doorstep so you don't have to think about how am I gonna access food?

Considering most of our particular clients live in very hard to reach areas where they might have to take two buses or a bus and a train to get to a food pantry or a local grocer that would have more healthy food options.

- Dr. Carter, special meal options, talk about that a little bit.

- Yeah, I mean, I think that's also something that we just don't talk about.

What does it mean to be whole, right?

What does it mean to be healthy and to have the type of food you need to be able to advance your health every day?

I think that part of food security is not only being able to eat and to have food, but also have food that helps you manage your health.

So having those larger conversations around, you know, someone who might be pre-diabetic, or someone with high blood pressure, or someone who just needs to eat a bit healthier in order to just help them be healthy and strong.

For us at Coalition, we like to tailor those meals to our particular population so not only are they fed, but they're fed in a way that can really help them reduce, you know, any type of return visits to the ER or to their primary care physician that could be prevented.

- Tara, let me ask you, we're three years plus into the pandemic, and we've had so many segments dealing with the economic challenges in the state.

There's challenges of small business, the childcare issues that I said you've joined us to talk about.

COVID and the fallout from COVID, the impact of COVID, the long term, short and long term impact of COVID, in many ways, it has changed the role of the Economic Development Authority in this state, has it not?

- Absolutely, I think it is something that was have seeded from the commitment that Governor Murphy made when coming into office for a stronger, fairer New Jersey, but really took root in terms of the breadth of what economic development can mean and should mean when we just saw the fragility of so many New Jerseyans during COVID.

And as our society shut down, and was rocked in every way imaginable, you started to see those cracks, and they got a lot bigger.

And so part of the investment that we're committed to making is really to shore up the economic security of every New Jerseyan, giving them access to safe and affordable and quality childcare, being able to access healthy, affordable, nutritious food, the things that many of us take for granted, but that also have tremendous economic impacts.

Leeja talked about the savings in healthcare.

Think of how many ER visits are prevented by providing people with healthy food.

Think of how many workers are able to go back to work or stay employed because they're able to reliably send their child to a childcare center.

So I think we're truly transforming what economic development can mean.

It's long overdue, and it's something that we really believe the Economic Development Authority is a national leader on this front.

- Before we get out of this segment, I want to get both of you to respond to this.

So a fair number of people watching, those who don't watch, people who just have views and opinions on things, "Yeah, this COVID thing, it's over.

Come on, aren't gonna be done with this?

It's been three years plus."

It is not over, Dr. Carter, for the people who suffered disproportionately who are trying to find a way to get back on their feet, it is not over.

Please talk to us, Dr. Carter.

- Yeah, I mean, where do you start?

Because, you know, when we look at COVID, just like many other one natural disasters and other forms of challenges that happen in our lives, what COVID did was present another challenge or another stressor, right?

Another traumatic event that individuals experienced that they then had to navigate without the necessary safety nets and supports in order for them to be able to thrive, right?

And so if we just look at it just from a just a general personal health context, you have individuals whom are already suffering from preexisting health issues, and then you put COVID on top of it, right?

- Made it worse.

- Make it worse.

We have here at Coalition about 78% of those that we serve are our aging population.

So after COVID, what COVID did both physically and psychologically was cause individuals to say, number one, "I'm not sure if outside is really safe for me."

Number two, it made very clear, "Hey, I need to find additional resources and supports to help me help myself, particularly from a health perspective, and a preventable health perspective."

- I'm sorry, I don't wanna cut you off, but I'm running out of time.

Tara, I wanna give you a few seconds on this.

- Yeah, I think the impact and the residual kind of effects of COVID continue to shake through different parts of our economy, and one of the areas that we're really committed to supporting are the small businesses that are still getting back on their feet, especially in the cities that have not yet rebounded.

You see the office workforce that's not fully back, that's where we also need to make sure we're dedicating some resources.

- Yeah, COVID's not something we check off the box and say done, and that's why we continue these conversations.

Dr. Carter, Tara Colton, we wanna thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- Yeah, stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Holy Name.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Valley Bank.

PSE&G, The Fidelco Group.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

And by The New Jersey Education Association.

Promotional support provided by The New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

And by AM970 The Answer.

- Hello, I'’m Dr. Luke Eyerman, a family medicine specialist at Holy Name.

When was your last visit to your primary care doctor?

Throughout the pandemic, many patients have put off their annual physicals and screenings, but preventative healthcare is critical for early detection of illnesses and to avoid future health problems.

Your doctor can also help you develop a wellness plan to achieve your personal health goals.

Your health can'’t wait.

Be proactive and talk to your primary care doctor today about scheduling your annual physical.