Grow it Green Awarded $7K State Grant

Grow it Green Morristown has been awarded an over $7,000 grant through the state's "Gleaning Support Program."

The $7,112 for Grow it Green is part of a $73,000 award, which includes $66,277 for the New Jersey Agricultural Society's Farmers Against Hunger Program. The Gleaning Support Program seeks to expand the work of organizations distributing fresh, New Jersey produce to emergency feeding agencies.

“Gleaning operations complement our existing emergency feeding programs by providing our state’s neediest citizens with fresh fruits and vegetables from our Garden State farmers,” said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher. “This grant funding will help the two organizations step up their efforts next growing season to provide even more produce to our state’s food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters and other agencies that feed the needy.”

The Gleaning Support Program grants must be used by the gleaning organizations for collection, distribution and administrative costs. The groups must distribute the gleaned New Jersey grown produce or non-farm nutrient dense rescued food gleaned from non-farm sources outside of the growing season only to New Jersey residents.

The funding for the grants comes from the State Food Purchase Program, for which Gov. Chris Christie allocated $6.8 million this year to be distributed quarterly to the state’s six foodbanks to purchase nutrient dense food with a high priority on buying locally grown produce from New Jersey farmers.

Grow It Green Morristown operates in Morristown on land owned by the Morris School District. In both of the years it has operated, the organization has donated more than 2,000 pounds of fresh produce grown on the farm to local organizations, such as soup kitchens, food pantries and schools.

“The gleaning grant will enable us to purchase and maintain a small pickup truck for the farm to permit us to better serve our community, make timely deliveries and bring our educational sessions right into the Morris School District’s classrooms during the off-season of the garden,” said Carolle Huber, a founding member of Grow it Green Morristown.

For more information on the Department of Agriculture’s State Food Purchase Program, visit: www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/fn/fooddistrib/foodpurchaseprogram.html.