FBSJ KICKS OFF FARM TO NEIGHBOR PILOT PROGRAM
From our agencies to our neighbors, a request we hear repeatedly is for more fresh produce – and even more so now as inflation continues to strain the food network.
Recently, the Food Bank of South Jersey began an innovative partnership to bring farm-fresh produce to our neighbors. Through a community supported agriculture pilot, FBSJ invested in the growing season of Free Haven Farms, located in Lawnside and Pemberton.By supporting the farm upfront, FBSJ not only has reliable produce to deliver directly to three of its agencies, but it also helps the local farm plan and have a reliable distribution source for the season.
“With this program, everything we grow has a home, and it changes the way we are farming now,” said Dr. Cynthia Hall, who runs Free Haven Farms with her husband Micaiah. “We know ahead of the season exactly what we need to produce. It’s been much more stable.”
Micaiah said the partnership has helped bring in more business, create jobs on the farm, and it’s also helped them think about how to make the pilot even better.
“People now are meeting the farmer who is growing their food,” Micaiah said. “We are collecting a lot of data so we can find ways to improve this and do it even better.
“Education is our strength. People are always willing to learn, so I think adding more of those programs will have a positive impact.”
During the 16-week pilot, 1,600 produce boxes will be distributed to neighbors in need throughout South Jersey.
Fighting Food Insecurity in South Jersey with America’s Oldest Farm Co-Op
An innovative partnership among the Landisville Produce Cooperative, the Food Bank of South Jersey, and its agencies is helping farmers stabilize revenues while feeding hungry people.
Ploch Farms, Inc. was established as a dairy farm in 1880, and has been growing produce since 1915. Its 200 acres of triple-cropped Vineland soil employs a staff of two dozen workers who grow, harvest, and pack leafy produce, like spinach, swiss chard, dandelion greens. Farm work is physical, time-consuming labor that is undertaken in all kinds of weather conditions.
It’s expensive to farm, and profit margins are slim; moreover, because the acquisition of farmland is so costly and difficult, more than half the farmers in New Jersey operate on land that is leased.
Farms like the Plochs’ are largely generational, with the institutional memory of those who work the land handed down throughout a lifetime of effort and investment.
New Jersey works to support farming and the longevity of the farm businesses through farmland preservation and tax and policy initiatives, but “citizen loyalty and support” — in the form of farmers markets, farm-to-table restaurants, and community supported agriculture (CSA) — is also significant, Peter Furey, Executive Director of the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture, said.
“When they see the moral support of the policy people, it makes a difference,” Furey said.
Farmers control for all the variables they can, but are nonetheless beholden to commodification of their goods in a global market, shipping infrastructure that brings items to market out of season, and technological advancements that drive down prices, Furey said.
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (left) speaks with farmers Ryan (center)