Trenton is becoming a heat island.

A heat island is an urban area that tends to have higher temperatures than neighboring areas due to its lack of natural terrain and increased infrastructure. 

New Jersey is warming up “faster than the rest of the Northeast region and the world”, which can be attributed to the “high urbanization of the state”, according to a report by the NJDEP. 

Irregular and heightened temperatures are a recipe for disaster when it comes to crop production. Some of the heat island’s effects, the report continues, can be expected to come in the form of lower agricultural productivity and more frequent droughts. 

While this might not seem like a cause for concern, these high temperatures have a ripple effect that extends out towards various sectors of human life. One of the most concerning being food insecurity. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as a consistent lack of access to enough food for a robust, healthy life. Food insecurity is not simply just having a limited amount of food for a fixed amount of people, but also the lack of access to nutritional sustenance. 

Food insecurity does not affect all populations the same. Inequities in Trenton’s history, such as redlining and institutional racism, has prevented the minority residents of this city from the same resources as their white counterparts. This includes the quality of and accessibility rate of nutritional food. 

Data collected by hunger-relief organization Feeding America through a 2020 survey revealed that there are varying rates of food insecurity amongst different demographics. Food insecurity was calculated by analyzing linked factors such as unemployment, poverty, and homeownership on a state-level to estimate food insecurity rates at a local level. 

According to this data, in 2020 the Black community in Trenton experienced a whopping 19% food insecurity rate, meaning that 19% of Black individuals in Trenton were experiencing a lack of access to enough food to sustain an active life. The Latino community is a close runner-up with an 18% food insecurity rate. In contrast, the overall rate in Mercer County is 8.3%, and the White community experiences a 3% food insecurity rate.

Effects of rising temperature levels and the subsequent restriction of food will be more severe in these areas predominantly populated by minorities, leaving these populations vulnerable and disenfranchised.

Trenton has a fairly sparse food scene. There are corner stores, bodegas, and convenience stores, grocery stores, and a supermarket here and there.

There are only 2 major chain supermarkets in Trenton, 1 of which is technically in Ewing. As a result, convenience and corner stores have become the primary food source for Trentonians. 

Cheap food is appealing to the majority of people who need to make ends meet. It’s typically non-perishable, quick and easy to prepare, and takes little out of their paycheck. Afterall, time and energy is unexpendable. 

While this shortcut seems to be a win for time and money. Convenience store food is typically high in sodium and cholesterol. These families are putting themselves at risk of chronic disease due to their unhealthy choices.

Low-income households are also more vulnerable to price spikes. With the worsening environment, reductions in agricultural productivity can cause prices for produce and general food to increase. 

Trenton’s worsening heat has affected the quality and availability of food. Climate change can cause disruptions in weather and precipitation patterns, as well as causing larger threats to environment stability such as droughts. 

These extremities can trigger price volatility, which in turn affects people’s access and affordability to food. 

Climate effects can also hinder transportation, for both consumers and transporters of food. Residents may not want to risk enduring the extreme heat brought on by these rising temperatures. 

A team of NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service students researched and documented the ratio of healthy food sources to overall food sources. Their goal was to assess if there were any gaps in Trenton’s food system by creating a map of its food assets.

According to the study done by NYU Wagner School of Public Service, only 22.5% of Trenton’s residents live within a quarter-mile radius of a grocery store or supermarket. 

With more extreme weather due to the heat island effect, this distance between consumers and their food sources becomes a larger issue. The costs of transportation, whether public or a privately owned vehicle, may not be feasible for some families pinching pennies.

“There’s a health toll to living in an urban heat island,” associate professor Madeleine Scammell said in an interview with BU Today, “People’s experience of heat vastly differs, and having resources to cope makes a huge difference that can be life or death. And the most vulnerable people…don’t often have those resources.” 

There is an abundance of food resources in Trenton, whether they’re food programs, pantries, soup kitchens, or convenience stores. The change lies in the accessibility of the resource.

Food insecurity in Trenton does not exist due to a lack of food or food assistance; the problem lies in the quality of the food and whether it is accessible to the majority of Trenton residents.