N.J. farmers harvest local-grown movement

Thinking globally, more New Jerseyans are expected to buy local produce this growing season.

ERIC SUCAR staff Roosevelt farmer Dave Burlew and his fiancée, Tara Keegan, harvest purple bok choy on May 29 at the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm on Nurko Road, which has 120 shareholders this year.

New Jersey has an expanding local-grown movement, with soaring costs in a downturned economy expecting to push the state's direct farmer-to-consumer sales to the next level this year if crops fare well.

The trend New Jerseyans are setting by eating more locally produced food than ever before isn't just the result of the high prices they're seeing lately at supermarkets and the gas pumps. Residents also have elevated food-safety concerns, according to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDOA).

Consumers are particularly concerned with the effects of pesticide use, food preservatives and additives, genetically altered crops, and E. coli outbreaks.

Lynne Richmond, of the NJDOA, said New Jersey consumers gained a heightened awareness about food after people died from eating tainted spinach grown in California and sold in supermarkets across the state a few years ago.

"People feel that if they are eating something produced closer to home, they are getting a fresher, higher-quality product," Richmond said.

Public demand for locally grown food is increasing and has resulted in 350 restaurants in the state displaying signs that announce "This restaurant is proud to serve New Jersey-produced and -harvested products when in season." Richmond also said that New Jerseyans' interest in community farming events like Farm-to-Fork Week, farm stands, community farm markets, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs grows each year.

"There are 100 community farmers markets in New Jersey," Richmond said. "That's double of just a few years ago, making fresh-picked local produce available in many places it never was available before."

With locally grown food, consumers don't pay the costs of shipping from other parts and outside of the country.

"According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, food travels an average of 1,500 miles from producer to end-user," Richmond said.

ERIC SUCAR staff Roosevelt's Tara Keegan harvests a line of vegetables on May 29 at the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm in Roosevelt.

Using locally grown products also reduces the carbon dioxide emissions that come with transporting food over long distances, she said.

"Also, the product is fresher, having been picked closer to the time a consumer buys it, sometimes that same day, if purchased at a community farmers market," she said. "It also feels good to know you are supporting the state's agriculture and keeping a farming family on the land."

The NJDOA also notes an increased interest in organic produce.

"New Jersey farmers are very enterprising, and some have seen the demand for organic produce increase and have sought to become organic certified, a process that takes about three years," Richmond said.

The NJDOA is accredited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to certify organic. Farms must be certified organic each year.

Although some state farmers have been opting for organic certification since the '80s, the job of certification wasn't the NJDOA's responsibility until recently.

Mikey Azzara, outreach director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey (NOFANJ), said New Jersey's interest in organics has been growing steadily since 1986, when NOFANJ formed to help state farmers become certified organic. Just last year, the NJDOA took over the certification process from NOFANJ.

"That in itself is an important event," Azzara said. "It represents the growing trend for organics in the state when the NJDOA would deem it an important project to include in its services."

NOFANJ started out as a small part of the Stoney Brook Millstone Watershed Association in Pennington and has since expanded its services to warrant opening a new headquarters on the 2,000-acre Duke Farm in Somerville in Somerset County.

Now that NOFANJ doesn't certify organic farmers, the group will focus on increasing the number of organic farms and farmers markets in New Jersey to meet the increasing local demand for such produce as well as educating schoolchildren and the rest of the state's population about the benefits of eating organic foods.

Azzara said there are currently 61 certified organic farms in New Jersey.

"The number is definitely on the rise," he said, adding that new and young farmers have taken the lead in establishing organic farms in the state, but that third- and fourth-generation farmers have also started to increasingly opt for certification due to increasing demands.

The number of organic farms increases each year in every county, with Mercer and Hunterdon counties topping the chart with over six each.Monmouth County currently has three organic farms, he said.

Azzara said the No. 1 reason people are switching to organic foods is health.

"Research supports that a lot of organic fruits and vegetables have higher nutritional content and minimum exposure to chemical and pesticide residues," he said.

He continued, "People should be equally concerned about farmers using organic practices for healthier soil and land."

Azzara also said that New Jersey residents are looking toward organic farms to stave off development and protect the soil and the land. He said organic farming reduces runoff and creates biological activity to keep the state's soil healthy.

"Organic farmers are taking care of soil and rotating their crops to ensure the future health of the land in the Garden State," he said.

 

The number of acres in New Jersey that are certified organic is higher than ever at 2,500, with more being added each growing season, he said.

"This is still a small part of New Jersey agriculture," he said. "But there is so much room for growth, especially since the population's demand at this point far surpasses the supply."

NOFANJ gets countless calls from New Jersey residents inquiring about organic farms, farm stands and CSAs, Azzara said. He said there are currently 106 farm stands in the state and 20 CSAs, of which most are certified organic.

Azzara said CSA membership is also a quickly growing trend among New Jerseyans, with most CSAs having sold-out shares and waiting lists.

"People are looking for a connection to their farmers and the land," he said.

NOFANJ attributes New Jersey residents' growing interest in organic and locally grown foods to the state having an educated population with direct access to local farm stands that provide such products.

Azzara said New Jerseyans are unique and lucky because most get to live between 10 and 30 minutes away from a farm stand, which is rare in most other states.

Azzara said more New Jersey landowners and communities are inquiring about developing farmers markets and CSAs.

"Municipalities are saying we have land we would love to use for community benefit," he said. "Municipalities want to give their people access to land and great, fresh food."

He said a first just happened in Moorestown in Burlington County, where county-owned land became a farm for a CSA program.

"Honestly, we are thrilled," Azzara said. "Interest continues to grow, but this is still just the beginning."

Azzara said NOFANJ helps young farmers like Roosevelt's Dave Burlew take their passions to the next level, providing them with the resources they need to grow farms and CSAs from the ground up.

"He's definitely representative of the younger generation getting into it, which is awesome," Azzara said of Burlew.

Burlew and his fiancée, Tara Keegan, also of Roosevelt, began the borough's CSA program three years ago.

The community farm survives because Burlew collects money from shareholders prior to the growing season and uses those funds to purchase seeds. Whereas other farmers in the state rely on maxed-out credit cards and the hope of selling enough produce to compensate for their spending, Burlew said that at a CSA, the shareholders weather the season along with the farmer, which takes some of the pressures of farming off the grower.

"We go directly to our customers to minimize the risks," Burlew said, adding that this season, the CSA has grown to 120 shareholders.

"With that number, we serve most of the families in town and some of their friends, neighbors and relatives as well," he said.

Burlew said CSA members enjoy fresh and tasty varieties of crops they can't find in the local supermarket.

"Some people just join for the heirloom tomatoes," Burlew said, adding that he loves Striped Germans and that his wifeto be raves about the Green Zebras.

The farmer said that beyond the vegetables, there are numerous other reasons people join CSAs. He said many people have increased concerns about their carbon footprints, which CSAs can help them reduce.

The Roosevelt CSA doesn't use sprays or treatments on its produce nor does it ship its produce. Customers pick up shares in reusable containers. Because the farm is not even a mile outside of town, most shareholders decrease their driving time to get their food and some reduce it altogether by walking, jogging, or biking to get their weekly share. Burlew also said that the vegetables grow without help from sprays and treatments.

"The produce goes from the field to the plate," he said. "It's a perfect example of having less of an impact on the environment."

Burlew said many local residents approach him for advice about finding other local crops and fresh eggs and fresh dairy.

"I think it's really good that our consumers are really looking out for that," he said.

For those who don't have a CSA share, the farm will offer its farm stand at 5 Nurko Road on weekends again this year. The CSA will also be selling produce throughout the week at Bulk's Garden Center on Route 537 in Clarksburg.

Gloria Bulk said the store at her garden center carries Roosevelt CSA produce as well as organic dairy products and eggs.

"I think the big thing now is locally grown, all-natural products," she said. "A lot of people are going with organic produce, especially cancer patients and those with other illnesses. Doctors are recommending organic diets."

Bulk said she has seen the local-grown movement getting dramatically bigger over the past five years.

"This year it's really started moving," she said. "That's why we want to offer something nice and healthy and different, some good, fresh locally grown stuff."

She said consumers who buy locally grown products know where their food is coming from.

"They know it's fresh and natural and hasn't been shipped with a ton of preservatives," she said.

Bulk said buying locally grown products also helps reduce the plastic that goes into garbage dumps.

"Look at what they call organic in the supermarkets- produce wrapped in plastic thicker than your jeans and soaking wet with condensation - and then compare it to fresh, clean and crisp local produce," she said. "Everyone is pushing going green, and this is just another way to. Buying local also helps support our communities and getting back to nature."