Make a Local Food for Schools Program Permanent in New Jersey.

Feed our kids right. Support our farmers.

Goal: Create a permanent Local Food for Schools program in the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.

Local food purchasing programs have already connected New Jersey schools with New Jersey farmers — bringing fresh, locally produced food to students while creating valuable markets for farms.

But these programs have depended on temporary private and federal funding. Schools and farmers can't build lasting purchasing relationships around funding that may disappear from one year to the next.

S1650/A1492 would change that by establishing a permanent Local Food for Schools program within the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, with stable, predictable state support.

Temporary programs proved the concept → NJ stakeholders learned from them → stakeholders designed a permanent NJ solution → now the NJ Legislature must pass S1650/A1492. That’s where YOU come in.

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Local Food for Schools Coalition Members

  • NJ School Nutrition Association

  • NJ Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

  • Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey

  • New Jersey Farm Bureau

  • The Common Market

  • Zone 7

  • Lima Family Farm

  • Add our organization’s name here!

Built in New Jersey, for New Jersey

The proposed program was shaped with input from the farmers, food hubs, school districts, and other partners who participated in previous local food purchasing programs. Their experience helped identify what worked, what didn't, and what a permanent New Jersey program needs to succeed. S1650 also includes improvements based on input and questions from the NJ Department of Agriculture.

The result is a program designed around the realities of New Jersey farms, New Jersey schools, and New Jersey's food supply chain.

Why does New Jersey need a permanent program?

  • Predictability for farmers

    Farmers need to know that markets will exist before they plant, hire workers, purchase equipment, or expand production. Stable funding makes long-term planning possible.

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  • Reliability for schools

    Schools need consistent programs and purchasing resources to build relationships with local suppliers and incorporate more New Jersey food into their menus.

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  • A program New Jersey can shape

    A permanent program within the NJ Department of Agriculture gives New Jersey the ability to build a program around our own farms, schools, supply chains, and priorities — rather than depending on the availability and rules of temporary outside funding.

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