Community Corner

Healthy, Fresh Food in the Hub City

Several agencies in New Brunswick are working to bring fresh food to a population that is reporting limited access to it.

On a rainy day in August, a group of about 40 people from the New Brunswick, Newark and Rutgers communities toured the 2.75 acre Added Value Community Farm in Red Hook, Brooklyn, an expansive growing operation built upon an abandoned paved park.

The topics of the day were complicated - urban agriculture, food security and local economic development.

"It's a lot more than growing a couple (of) tomato plants," said trip organizer Matthew Sarsycki, a grad student at the Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

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In New Brunswick, these very issues are tackled daily by a number of agencies that are working to bring fresh food that is accessible to all of New Brunswick's diverse residents, stir economic development to create further opportunities for local business owners, and do all of these things in a way that is sustainable.

"This is a movement," said Lisanne Finston, Executive Director of Elijah's Promise, of New Brunswick's growing involvement in education, community gardens and healthy eating.

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According to a 2011 report entitled "Urban Agriculture in New Brunswick," it was reported that about half of New Brunswick parents reported having limited access to fresh produce and low-fat food items.

88 percent of the children living in New Brunswick do not meet vegetable consumption recommendations, the report said.

The report was prepared by students enrolled in the Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers.

Community Initiatives

There are several agencies working to increase the availability of fresh food. Community gardens have sprung up around town in Feaster Park, on Rutgers University property, on Tabernacle Way between George Street and Neilson Street, and near Pine Street Park.

In their report, the Bloustein students involved created a map of sites in New Brunswick that are being used for community gardens, or have potential to be turned into gardens.

The report recommended a combination of options to help solve food insecurity in New Brunswick, including food rescue, community shared agriculture (CSA) programs, changes to local zoning regulations to better accommodate urban agriculture sites, and the practice of keeping money local by having city merchants purchase produce from local gardens to keep the money cycling in New Brunswick.

The  August "Growing Gotham Food Tour" bus trip to New York was organized in the hopes of finding ideas that could be transferred to New Brunswick, and contacts to help with those ideas.

The group traveled to Philadelphia earlier this summer, and have one more trip planned for September.

In addition to the Added Value Farm, the group also visited the Union Square Green Market in Manhattan, the Dekalb Market in Brooklyn and a massive pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn that was left behind by Pfizer and now houses a co-op of small businesses.

The idea behind the trip was also to educate participants in getting the interest of authorities - their local governance boards and politicians - to ensure that any initiatives started can be sustained. 

The diversity of the group also created the possibility of building new networks to work together on projects, Sarsycki said.

"Everything we saw is doable here in New Brunswick," said Keith Jones, chair of the New Brunswick Community Food Alliance, who attended the trips to Philadelphia and New York.

Jaymie Santiago, market manager of the New Brunswick Community Farmers Market said the Added Value farm had potential for New Brunswick in the way of bringing a youth empowerment program to the city that would have local youth working in gardens and learning about agriculture.

Santiago said a personal goal of his is to help New Brunswick evolve into a leader in urban agriculture initiatives.

Eating Fresh

New Brunswick has two regular farmers markets within the city boundaries - the New Brunswick Community Farmers Market, and the Rutgers Gardens Farmers Market.

Both are affiliated with Rutgers University.

The New Brunswick Community Farmers Market was created with city residents in mind in forms of payment and offerings. It's a joint operation between the city, Johnson & Johnson and the Rutgers Cooperative Extension.

Held at 178 Jones Ave. on Thursdays and Saturdays, the market features fresh produce, crafts and health information, including fitness and cooking demos. It accepts SNAP and WIC as forms of payment, and is accessible by public transportation.

It also sells meat from the Rutgers University NJ Agricultural Experiment Station. Surplus animals raised at Rutgers University that were used in the University's Animal Care Program and are no longer needed are sent to slaughter, and the meat returned to the program staff.

It is sold at the market with the proceeds going back into the program.

Santiago said the market's main customer base is made up of the Hispanic and African-American families living in the surrounding second ward.

The market is in its fourth year of operation, and in those four years, the amount of people using state and federal assistance programs to pay for goods from the market has climbed, Santiago said.

The market is also the site of a 40-bed community garden, the "Garden of Hope" that is tended by approximately 40 New Brunswick families, with assistance from Rutgers Cooperative Extension staff, he said.

Moving forward, Santiago said the market staff are exploring the possibility of bringing satellite markets into other "distressed" neighborhoods in New Brunswick that may have a dearth of fresh food available to them.

The Food Alliance

Jones, a longtime resident of New Brunswick, came to the New Brunswick Community Food Alliance for guidance on what it would take to maintain a garden at his home. He planned on growing vegetables to feed his neighbors.

"It was heartbreaking to see someone you went to high school with who is in a state of (not being able to) feed themselves, can't feed their family," he said.

Jones is now the chair of the group, which is a collection of representatives from city nonprofits, community members, local government and Rutgers University.

Jones said that the group is working on priority areas to improve access to fresh food in New Brunswick and encourage local business growth.

The Alliance is split into five work groups that tackle different subjects, like policy, agriculture and community engagement.

Group meetings where the entire group convenes are held every other month. All Alliance meetings are open to the public.

Currently, the group is looking to identify a handful of commercial kitchens in New Brunswick that would be willing to allow small business owners access to produce their food items.

They are also exploring the possibility of a program, run by The Food Trust of Philadelphia, that would provide incentives for convenience store and bodega owners in town to supply fresh foods - vegetables, fruits and dairy - to their consumers.

Jones said that while growing up in New Brunswick, he remembered going into the corner markets, many of which did not carry a lot of fruits and vegetables.

"The only vegetable I would see is ginger root," he said, "What would I do with that?"

Jones said that the young group is still working to identify their major issues and begin working more cohesively. Ideally, he said he would like to have a New Brunswick house of worship join the Alliance, and a representative from the New Brunswick Police Department, because of their community relations.

Currently, the Alliance consists of representatives from Johnson & Johnson, the New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO), The City of New Brunswick, Rutgers University, Unity Square, Elijah's Promise, Food and Water Watch, New Brunswick City Market, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and New Brunswick Tomorrow, in addition to community members.

"We have these great pieces," he said.

Jones said that one of the most exciting aspects of the Alliance is the fact that many of the initiatives being discussed are ideas that members have had for years, but have not been able to bring to fruition.

By bringing together the right people who are motivated to get the job done, they are hoping to get some of these ideas into reality over the next year, he said.

Urban Grocery

In November, downtown New Brunswick will see the doors open to its first full-service supermarket in years - The Fresh Grocer.

will feature a wealth of produce, a coffee bar, brick oven pizza, sushi, prepared food, two cafes, and a bakery. I, which will also include a health and wellness center and a parking deck.

The Fresh Grocer is a Philadelphia-based supermarket chain that specializes in urban areas. It is anticipated to bring 200 jobs to the area, as the market plans a hiring initiave for people in the greater New Brunswick area.

Mayor James Cahill has that the market will be within a 10-15 minute walk for 75 percent of New Brunswick's residents.

"Food Changes Lives"

Arguably the most active food awareness agency in the greater New Brunswick area is Elijah's Promise, a nonprofit that runs a soup kitchen and advocates for adequate and healthy food for all.

The agency, whose motto is "Food Changes Lives," runs cooking courses for low-income families that teach how to make healthy meals on a budget, provides two meals daily at its soup kitchen for homeless residents, operates a "pay-as-you-can" model cafe in Highland Park, and presents workshops on organic, healthy and locally sourced foods. Many of the programs offered by Elijah's Promise are free.

The organization also grows crops in the spring and summer at sites around Middlesex County to be served in its programs and at the soup kitchen.

As crops are harvested, they are frozen and stored for the winter, in an attempt to prolong the availability of fruits and vegetables to the clients of the organization.

Come February, fresh vegetables and fruit are nearly impossible to come by through programs that supply food to relief organizations such as Elijah's Promise, Finston said.

Finston said one of the most difficult tasks in getting fresh food onto the dinner table for low-income families is the meeting of both the supply and demand aspects of providing fresh food.

Markets can offer fresh fruits and vegetables, but if they do not provide products that are requested by the community, those vegetables will not move. Nor will they move if the community is not aware that that food is available to them, she said.

"The goal is to strive to reach that balance," she said.

Finston said that some bodegas and markets in New Brunswick do stock fresh vegetables and fruits, and for fair prices. The challenge then becomes letting people know that those items are there, and are a good choice for their diets.

"Create that culture around food that (makes) people want (to shop) for the good stuff," she said.

Reaching a place where the demand for and education around fresh, healthy food will meet the supply will not be quick, Finston said. It will take years to reverse the culture of mass production and a hands-off approach to the food we eat.

However, Finston said, in order to bring that change around, organizations need to act now, and New Brunswick is a great place to start.

Much of the population comes from agrarian societies. There is a bevy of research at nearby Rutgers University, and health support and education from two regional hospitals, she said.

"If not here, I don't know where else we can do this in New Jersey," she said.

Finston said the Alliance is an exciting start, mostly because it has come together without the impetus of a grant, outside influence, or other interests driving its work.

It's a group of people in the community who are really advocating for "Food Justice," she said.

"All people at all income levels should have access to the same food," she said. "That's food justice."


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