Save “Jersey Fresh” as we know it
The “Jersey Fresh” program is under attack.
Implemented in 1984 by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Jersey Fresh is a marketing program that promotes farm produced products from all reaches of the state, as well as farming related activities, such as agri-tourism events and attractions, and purchasing opportunities, including roadside markets, pick your own farms, and community farmers’ markets.
After all, New Jersey’s official nickname is The Garden State.
It is a successful program, as for 25 years, consumers and restaurant owners have known that high-quality produce is being grown within mere miles of their homes or establishments—as indicated by the ubiquitous “Jersey Fresh” labels—and available at their local supermarkets, farm stands, or community farmers’ markets.
The reach of this promotional mechanism may be drastically reduced if the $250,000 line item cut for the Jersey Fresh program survives in Governor Jon Corzine’s proposed budget—on top of recent reductions to the program. As reported in the Newark Star Ledger, according to Lynne Richmond, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Agriculture, marketing will continue, but enough appropriations may not remain for radio commercial airtime.
The ad nauseum political saying, “tough times require tough choices,” is a reality in New Jersey: during these recessionary times, faced with the responsibility of dealing with a sharp reduction in revenues, Gov. Corzine has no other option than to cut entirely or reduce significantly state funding for even the best programs. There are truly no winners, as every department, every program, and every citizen will be impacted.
I would argue, however, that funding for the Jersey Fresh program should be retained at current levels.
Why?
As noted above, the program is wide-reaching, and is welcomed by farmers, especially during tough economic times like now, as a tool to remind people to support local farming outfits and eating locally, a concept that has been receiving a lot of attention recently, most notably as a result of the Obama family’s garden at the White House.
The “locavore” movement, defined as eating food grown locally or within a tightly defined regional area, is a term that was coined by Jessica Prentice, the founder of Three Stone Hearth, a Community Supported Kitchen in Berkeley, California.
The reasoning for the movement is framed well within the “local food” entry on wikipedia.org:
Non-local food is often seen as a result of corporate management policies, heavy subsidies, poor animal welfare, lack of care for the environment, and poor working conditions. This limited interpretation is likely due to the fact that the organic movement is largely responsible for renewed public interest in local and regional markets. Those subscribing to this interpretation often insist on buying food directly from local family farms, through direct channels such as farmers’ markets, food cooperatives, and community-supported agriculture plans. For many, local food is interpreted as unprocessed foods to be transformed by the consumer or local shop rather than by the food industry. As such, local food (as opposed to global food) reduces or eliminates the costs of transport, processing, packaging, and advertising.
These are all noble reasons for eating locally, and it would be tough for almost anyone to sustain an argument against the promotion of local food. Another advantage relates to the planning process, land use, community and economic development, and real estate.
From a planning perspective, the locavore movement promotes community building, engagement, and interest. Eating locally helps our farmers earn a living, while also helping to ensure a balance of appropriate land uses in a state as disparate as New Jersey, with areas ranging from the most remote rural areas to extremely dense urban areas. Farmers’ markets bring communities together and provide a forum for interaction, thus in turn stimulating more involved and healthy citizens. Moreover, the markets create active public spaces in downtown areas throughout the week, which helps stimulate local interest in not only the products for sale, but also the local businesses that may be hurting for business and rely on pedestrian traffic, something that a weekly farmers’ market helps to generate.
A community poll taken in Madison Borough, New Jersey indicated that over 73% of respondents shop in downtown stores when they visit the weekly market. In addition, according to a presentation by Diane Eggert, Executive Director of the Farmers Market Federation of New York, the weekly Thursday night market in downtown Oswego, which has up to 40 vendors, prepared foods, and entertainment, has spurred 10 new shops and the transfer of other businesses to the downtown area to capitalize on an influx of foot traffic. Lastly, according to Ms. Eggert, the Ithaca market is directly responsible for keeping 35% of the vendors in business, as well as keeping 25% of vendors from reducing their operations.
It’s a tool for community, economic, and nutritional development.
Dozens of New Jersey’s suburban downtowns have seen a resurgence over the past few decades, and even through there are a bounty of reasons for this occurrence, the emergence of the farmers’ market parallels that of the suburban downtown. Clearly, both feed off each other, and farmers’ markets have helped to create a “buzz” in places like Highland Park, Kearny, Red Bank, Keyport, Highlands, Morristown, Metuchen, and Toms River, to name a few.
It’s simple: provide an outlet for fresh, locally grown food in a downtown area, and people will come and not only purchase some produce, but also perhaps meat at the local butcher or a shirt at the local boutique.
Eating locally translates directly into spending locally.
Perhaps the shock of a potential appropriations cut will force the Department of Agriculture to consider some innovative (read: free) marketing measures—beyond tapping the traditional media outlets that are costly—such as creating a Twitter account to selectively target New Jersey residents, or a Facebook “fan page” to reach a predominantly young demographic. There are dozens of social media methods through which the Jersey Fresh program can be marketed, and all should be explored.
In 2009, with a number of these same downtown areas under assault by this recession, with store closings and less revenue flowing into bars, restaurants, and shops, the relatively tiny amount of appropriations allotted for Jersey Fresh, a program that continually helps to remind us to support our local farmers and eat locally, should not be cut. We need people to flow into our communities to spend money, interact with each other, and indirectly, help to ensure a range of land uses statewide.
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