Buying local will keep Garden State green
Fresher taste. Greater food safety. Shorter distance from farm to plate. Support for nearby farmers. The arguments for buying locally grown agricultural products have been building for years.

To that list, consumers can now add price as a compelling reason to spend as much of their food dollar as possible on items grown and harvested right here in New Jersey.

Fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs, milk, meat and poultry, eggs, cheese and grain products all must make their way from the farm to the retailer. With today's high fuel costs, the longer any product travels, the more cost there is added to the final price.

Besides, anyone who has waited through the fall, winter and spring to get their hands on our great-tasting Jersey tomatoes, sweet corn, juicy peaches and delicious blueberries can attest that it's just plain worth it for the taste experience to buy Jersey Fresh farm products.

The proximity of growers to retailers not only improves the freshness and quality of the products reaching store shelves, but also helps keep a lid on transportation costs that, naturally, increase as the price of fuel climbs across the nation.

And our state's juxtaposition of large population centers interspersed with areas of concentrated agricultural production makes for a unique marketing position. Large amounts of Jersey Fresh products can make it to high-traffic retail outlets with very little travel time in between. This is a situation that farmers, retailers and consumers in many other areas of the country envy.

Over the past several years, the number of venues in New Jersey at which these products are offered has greatly increased. To the traditional supermarket produce aisle and quaint roadside stand, we have added an ever-expanding number of community farmers markets - increasing from 50 in 2002 to over 100 this year - hundreds of on-farm pick-yourown operations, and more than 500 restaurants whose chefs choose to use locally grown and harvested foods.

The reasons the number of in-state outlets featuring Jersey Fresh items has increased so rapidly are simple - demand for a quality product and appreciation of local agriculture by residents. New Jersey is still the most densely populated state in the nation. Consumers in our area have known for generations that buying locally grown products benefits their quality of life by keeping agriculture as part of New Jersey's landscape.

Consumers have come to understand that their food-buying choices can make a difference in their own quality of life by buying farm products close to their homes. They now understand it supports our farmers, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will continue farming their land, which in many cases has been in their families for generations. At the same time, they're getting great products - a true win-win proposition.

To date, approximately 168,000 acres of New Jersey farmland has been permanently preserved from development. While the public has repeatedly supported state and local initiatives to help preserve farmland, an equally important source of support comes when shoppers buy Jersey Fresh and Jersey Grown products.

(See more about Jersey Fresh and Jersey grown at www.jerseyfresh.nj.gov/ and www.jerseygrown.nj.gov/.)

By supporting farmland preservation and choosing farm products that were grown right here in New Jersey, we can all play a role in keeping the Garden State green and growing.
Charles M. Kuperus
New Jersey Secretary
of Agriculture
Trenton