Judy Grignon, program coordinator, Farmers Against Hunger: ‘There’s a preconceived notion of who’s in the food line,’ Ms. Grignon says. ‘They work hard. They just n
By Adam Grybowski Staff Writer
Standing in the shadow of the New Holy Cross Church in Trenton, they remove their winter hats and bow their heads in prayer. They — the working poor, the unfortunate, the elderly — are about to receive their weekly share of fresh produce, provided free by New Jersey Farmers Against Hunger. Standing in front of boxes of oranges, celery, honeydews and lettuce, Bishop Willy Jones gives thanks for the food and prays for the hunger relief program to continue next week.
It nearly didn’t happen. After announcing the end of its food distribution program due to a funding shortfall, Farmers Against Hunger was thrown a lifeline by state government. On Dec. 5, in the nick of time, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture announced that $100,000 in grant money was being made available to nonprofit organizations, like Farmers Against Hunger, that collect donated produce for free distribution to the poor and hungry.
Since 1996, Farmers Against Hungers — a program of the New Jersey Agricultural Society — has worked to provide an efficient way for the needy to receive the nutritious food they sorely lack as well as the means for farmers to depose of surplus food that would otherwise go to waste.
While the program delivers a good portion of its food to the state’s food banks, much of it goes to agencies like the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK), the Rescue Mission of Trenton and the Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton, as well as smaller service organizations and churches. Farmers Against Hunger estimates that it collects and distributes 1.5 million pounds of food annually.
Each week the organization uses four hubs to distribute fruits and vegetables. New Holy Cross is one of them. About 10 volunteers gather there every Thursday. They are happy to work with any food they can get. The Rev. Jerry Foreman, pastor of Morning Star Church of God in Princeton, loads boxes of food into his van to bring back to his church, where he divvies it into shares and hands it out to between 50 and 100 residents.
“They’re struggling,” Pastor Foreman says of the people receiving the church’s assistance. “You can tell. When they don’t get food from us they don’t get it from no place. If (Farmers Against Hunger) close down, we don’t have no program that does it like this.”
Indeed, a cornerstone of Farmers Against Hunger is not only providing food that is nutritious and fresh, but teaching the values of a healthy diet. The organization distributes a nutrition guide and cookbook for food recipients.
“We’ve been getting re-educated to what we should be eating,” Bishop Jones says. “It helps develop an appetite for fresh produce. Having consistent fresh produce balances out the other staples and provides nourishment,” he notes, adding that the poor tend to eat foods high in salt and fat because they are generally cheaper than fresh produce.
Farmers Against Hunger operates on a budget of approximately $120,000 per year, which makes possible the collection and distribution of food for roughly 8 cents per pound. About 55 farms donate excess produce to the program, providing 6,000 people with food each week throughout the spring, summer and fall. In the winter, grocery stores and produce suppliers donate food, which allows distribution to go on year round.
“We’ve never paid for a pound of anything and we’ve never sold it for anything,” says Judy Grignon, program coordinator of Farmers Against Hunger.
The majority of the organization’s budget is used to pay for operating expenses such as fuel, car insurance and drivers’ salaries. When the grants they had previously relied on lapsed, program coordinators anticipated new funding from the state’s $4 million hunger initiative, but learned in July they would be ineligible due to the nature of their distribution system.
According to policy, the Department of Agriculture allocates money specifically for the “purchase” of food. Because no money changes hands in the Farmers Against Hunger program, the organization was considered ineligible to receive state funding. Before the Department of Agriculture’s recent announcement, Ms. Grignon says the state refused to work with her.
Private contributions from Terhune Orchards, Microsoft and individuals were helping Farmers Against Hunger stay afloat. But if the new funding had not become available, she says, not only would the poor have lost access to free food, but local farmers, instead of feeding the needy, would have been forced to add thousands of pounds of perfectly good food to their compost piles.
Although they give away their produce for free, farmers benefit from the program. Cleaning and disposing of their excess crop is a burden. There is always a certain percentage of produce that doesn’t get sold, says Meredith Compton of Peaceful Valley Orchards in Pittstown, who contributes to Farmers Against Hunger. Due to the unpredictable nature of farming, she says, farmers can’t predict their surpluses. The alternative to giving the produce away is throwing it away.
Farmers who contribute to the program describe its systems as remarkably efficient. With only a day’s notice, unmarketable and surplus produce moves from field to table. Volunteers from the Department of Corrections, the Boy Scouts and other civic groups help to harvest and deliver food so that a carrot pulled from the ground in the morning can be eaten for dinner that night.
Although handling excess produce can stifle a farm’s efficiency, certain farmers — such as Jim Giamarese of East Brunswick, who is the New Jersey Agriculture Society president — plant extra produce specifically for Farmers Against Hunger. After all, requests for food are growing, Ms. Grignon says.
Founded in 1781, the New Jersey Agricultural Society is a statewide nonprofit membership association that seeks to “preserve and enhance agriculture, farming and related activities and businesses in New Jersey through educational, informational, and promotional programs.” In addition to Farmers Against Hunger, the society sponsors “Learning Through Gardening,” the New Jersey Agricultural Leadership Development Program, and other activities.
As people walked toward New Holy Cross Church to take their place in line, Bishop Jones said that many of them were on their way home from work. Farmers Against Hunger catches a group that falls between the cracks, he says. While the program certainly contributes to feeding the destitute, it also helps the working poor make ends meet, providing a patch for those who don’t earn enough money to support themselves and those who suffer a sudden job loss or injury.
“There’s a preconceived notion of who’s in the food line,” Ms. Grignon says. “They work hard. They just need help.”
Farmers Against Hunger, P.O. Box 331, Trenton 08625, gratefully accepts cash. To reach Judy Grignon, call (609) 462-9691. On the Web: www.njagsociety.org.

