Sponsored by:
Senator JEAN STANFIELD
District 8 (Atlantic, Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
Requires Department of Agriculture to take various actions to publicize and promote community supported agriculture in New Jersey.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the promotion of community supported agriculture, supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes, and amending various parts of the statutory law.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
Community supported agriculture means a method of on-the-farm direct sales and marketing in which the retail sale, to a consumer, of a share of the agricultural output of a commercial farm is effectuated through a paid subscription service.
Community supported agriculture program or CSA program means a farm product retail sales and marketing program in which participating consumers agree to pay a seasonal or annual subscription fee to a farm in exchange for the consumers regular and ongoing receipt of weekly shares of the farms seasonal agricultural output.
Department means the Department of Agriculture.
Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture.
b. Within 180 days after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Secretary of Agriculture shall develop and implement a publicity and marketing program to promote community supported agriculture in the State. As part of the program, the department shall:
(1) establish and regularly update, on its Internet website, a webpage that is dedicated to community supported agriculture, which webpage shall, at a minimum: (a) include a searchable list of all CSA programs in the State and the farms participating therein; and (b) provide hyperlinks, or use another simple methodology, to enable members of the public to subscribe to CSA programs in their local area;
(2) use all available means, including, but not limited to, print media, television, radio, road and other signage, the Internet, and social media to advertise and publicize: (a) the availability of, and the benefits of participating in, community supported agriculture in the State; (b) the names and locations of farms that participate in CSA programs; and (c) the availability of the community supported agriculture webpage, established pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection; and
(3) develop, print, and distribute distinct promotional and marketing labels that may be used by farmers to identify agricultural products that are being marketed and sold through community supported agriculture. The labels developed pursuant to this paragraph may contain the official New Jersey State map symbol, developed pursuant to R.S.4:10-5, as well as a Jersey Fresh, Premium Jersey Fresh, or Made with Jersey Fresh designation, as deemed by the secretary to be appropriate, but shall additionally indicate, in large and distinctive typeface, that the labeled products are being marketed and sold through community supported agriculture. Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to prohibit the operator of a farm, after first consulting with the department, from creating the farms own promotional labels and using those labels to identify agricultural products that are being marketed and sold by the farm through community supported agriculture.
2. (New section) a. The Department of Agriculture, acting in cooperation with the Department of Education and in coordination with farmers, public, private, and charter schools and their food services, the New Jersey Farm to School Network or its successor entity, and other interested and relevant organizations and groups, as determined by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Education to be appropriate, shall establish and annually observe a week of promotional events to be known as Community Supported Agriculture Week.
b. Community Supported Agriculture Week shall highlight and promote the value and importance of community supported agriculture, both as a means by which farming operations can better ensure their ongoing productivity, success, and financial stability, and as a means by which individuals, families, and businesses in the State can obtain fresh, seasonal, and easily accessible farm-to-table foods, throughout the year, while developing closer, more supportive, and reciprocal relationships with local farmers and becoming more invested in, and aware of the factors affecting, the seasonal and long-term success, stability, and viability of farming operations.
c. Community Supported Agriculture Week shall be celebrated on an annual basis, throughout the State, during the last full week in February, and shall be observed through the holding of relevant promotional events. Such promotional events shall be made available to members of the public at farms, community farmers markets, farm stands, grocery stores, community group meetings, churches, and service organizations; to children at school, through the use of in-class presentations, food sampling opportunities, and field trips to farms that are engaged in community supported agriculture; to students of higher education at on-campus events; and to any other groups or organizations at any other locations, as may be deemed by the Department of Agriculture to be beneficial or essential to the effective promotion, throughout the State, of the value and importance of community supported agriculture.
3. Section 1 of P.L.1939, c.136 (C.4:10-16) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. For the purpose of advertising and promoting the sale of New Jersey farm [product and] products, the "Jersey Fresh" program, and the value and importance of community supported agriculture, the Secretary of Agriculture is [hereby] authorized to solicit and receive funds, either as direct contributions, or from the sale of labels or the right to use labels authorized by the Department of Agriculture, or from any other source [for advertising and promotional purposes]. The monies received pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited in the "New Jersey Farm Products Publicity Fund," established pursuant to subsection b. of this section.
b. There is established in the Department of Agriculture a special nonlapsing fund to be known as the "New Jersey Farm Products Publicity Fund." The fund shall be administered by the Department of Agriculture, and monies in the fund shall be used exclusively for the purposes of advertising and promoting: (1) the sale of New Jersey farm products [and]; (2) the "Jersey Fresh" program; and (3) the value and importance of community supported agriculture. Any monies deposited into a bank or trust company designated to accept deposits of State money prior to the effective date of P.L.2017, c.267 and pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1939, c.136 (C.4:10-16), for the "New Jersey Farm Products Publicity Fund" shall be transferred to the fund established pursuant to this subsection. Monies deposited in the fund shall be held in interest-bearing accounts in public depositories, as defined pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1970, c.236 (C.17:9-41), and may be invested or reinvested in such securities as are approved by the State Treasurer. Interest or other income earned on monies deposited into the fund, and any monies [which] that may be appropriated or otherwise become available for the purposes of the fund, shall be credited to and deposited in the fund for use as set forth in this section.
c. The Secretary of Agriculture may notify interested persons and business entities of the opportunity to contribute funds to be u