Assembly Commerce, Economic Development and Agriculture Committee Statement to Assembly, No. 2320 (2024)

Summary

Statement of the Assembly Commerce, Economic Development and Agriculture Committee, State of New Jersey, dated February 22, 2024, reporting favorably Assembly Bill No. 2320. The bill would require the Department of Agriculture (DOA) to publicize and promote community supported agriculture, in which consumers pay a seasonal or annual subscription fee to a farm for weekly shares of the farm’s output. Within 180 days after the effective date, the Secretary of Agriculture is to develop a publicity and marketing program, including a dedicated webpage and promotional labels. The DOA would also observe "Community Supported Agriculture Week" during the last full week in February and encourage schools, through the "Farm to School Program," to subscribe to such programs.

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ASSEMBLY COMMERCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND AGRICULTURE
COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY,
No. 2320

STATE
OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: FEBRUARY
22, 2024

The Assembly Commerce, Economic Development and
Agriculture Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 2320.

This bill would require the Department of Agriculture
(DOA) to take certain actions to publicize and promote community supported
agriculture in the State. “Community supported agriculture” is 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” is defined by the bill to mean 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 farm’s seasonal agricultural output.

The bill would provide, in particular, that within 180
days after the bill’s effective date, the Secretary of Agriculture is to
develop and implement a publicity and marketing program to promote community
supported agriculture in the State. As part of the program, the department
would be required to:

(1) establish and regularly update, on its Internet
website, a webpage that is dedicated to community supported agriculture;

(2) use all available means to advertise and
publicize: the availability of, and the benefits of participating in,
community supported agriculture in the State; the names and locations of farms
that participate in CSA programs; and the availability of the community supported
agriculture webpage, established pursuant to the bill; 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.

Nothing in the bill would prohibit the operator of a
farm, after first consulting with the DOA, from creating the farm’s own
promotional labels and using those labels to identify agricultural products
that are being marketed and sold by the farm through community supported
agriculture.

The bill would also require the DOA to establish and
annually observe a week of promotional events to be known as “Community
Supported Agriculture Week.”

“Community Supported Agriculture Week” would be
intended to 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. The week would be celebrated on an annual basis, throughout the State,
during the last full week in February, and would be observed through the
holding of relevant promotional events.

The bill would further require the DOA, through the
State’s existing “Farm to School Program,” to encourage schools in the State to
obtain fresh, locally grown or produced agricultural products for school meals
by subscribing to, and becoming participants in, a community supported
agriculture program, and to work in cooperation with the Department of
Education to ensure that school curriculum addresses the value and importance
of community supported agriculture. In addition, the bill would require the
State’s existing “Farm to School” website to: (1) provide opportunities for
the execution of community supported agriculture subscription agreements
between and among farmers, distributors, and schools or school districts; (2)
facilitate the development and refinement of promotional events in association
with “Community Supported Agriculture Week”; and (3) include a copy of any
community supported agriculture subscription agreement that has been entered
into and successfully implemented by any school or school district in the
State.

The bill would also require the existing State website
that serves as a clearinghouse for farmers, and that currently provides a list
of schools, school districts, and food banks that have a need for produce or
dairy products, to additionally provide a list of schools, school districts,
and food banks that are interested in participating as subscribers in a
community supported agriculture program.

The bill authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to
solicit and receive funds, either as direct contributions, or from the sale of
labels or the right to use labels authorized by the DOA, or from any other
source, for the purposes of advertising and promoting the value and importance
of community supported agriculture in the State, as provided by the bill. Any
monies received for the purposes of the bill are to be deposited in the State’s
existing “New Jersey Farm Products Publicity Fund.” The bill would clarify
that, in addition to the existing purposes for which monies in the “New Jersey
Farm Products Publicity Fund” may be used, such monies may be used to publicize
the value and importance of community supported agriculture; to cover the
expenses of printing and distributing labels used in identifying products being
marketed and sold through community supported agriculture; and to cover any
other expenses that are incident to the implementation of this bill.

This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the
2024-2025 session pending technical review. As reported, the bill includes the
changes required by technical review, which has been performed.

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