West Amwell man forms nonprofit to promote farming
By Linda Seida
WEST AMWELL In the film “Miss Congeniality,” the main character is a fish out of water, a nerdy federal agent posing undercover as a beauty pageant contestant. At one point she is asked to explain why New Jersey, where she claims to be from, is called the Garden State. She replies, “‘Oil and Petrochemical Refinery State’ wouldn’t fit on a license plate.”
The line is funny, and maybe it’s even funny to some New Jerseyans. But it’s probably not so funny to those who farm the land. New Jersey’s farmer has become the fish out of water in the Garden State.
Agriculture in New Jersey is struggling to survive, according to Ron Shapella. The West Amwell resident recently established a new nonprofit organization to address the issues that are making it tough for farmers.
He hopes the New Jersey Association for Sustainable Agriculture, of which he is executive director, will offer “a chance to keep the garden in Garden State,” he said.
Farmland is disappearing at the rate of almost an acre an hour, according to a 2006 study quoted by Mr. Shapella.
The orchards and gardens he recalls from his youth in South Jersey are no longer there.
”You could drive for miles and miles and miles, and there would be nothing but huge tomato fields and orchards,” said Mr. Shapella, 54, whose ancestors were farmers in Pennsylvania. “Those are just developments now.”
According to a census compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the number of farms in New Jersey dropped 1 percent from 1997 to 2002, the latest year for which figures are available. The number of farms dropped from 10,045 to 9,924. The amount of land being farmed dropped 6 percent, from 856,909 acres to 805,682 acres, during that same period.
Results from the USDA’s 2007 census are expected to be released in February.
As deputy mayor of West Amwell Township, Mr. Shapella sees the same problems playing out locally as statewide. These issues are all coming to a head at the same time, placing obstacles in the path toward a thriving agricultural environment, he said.
”After looking at the forces affecting it, a lot of these things started to come into clearer focus,” Mr. Shapella said. “The nature of agriculture in New Jersey is changing, and there are severe potential impacts on how agriculture will look in the future.”
First, farmers who have been working their land for decades are now approaching retirement age.
”It’s a fact of life that farmers who created the Garden State and who own large, established farms for the most part are getting up in years and approaching retirement age,” Mr. Shapella said. Their options, he explained, are preserving their farm, passing it on to a family member or selling out to developers.
Second, younger people who want to start a farm are priced out of the opportunity. “The cost of land skyrocketed,” Mr. Shapella said.
”The question is, what is the future of farming in New Jersey? To a great extent, it will rely on smaller farms,” he said. “At the same time, farms have to become reconnected to their communities. All too often now, farmers grow only one thing”; for example, corn for fuel or food for livestock. “Years ago, farmers were seen as places to go and buy food. Now they’re not seen that way so much anymore.”
As an example, he said, “The crops grown in West Amwell are not seen by people in the community as important to their lives.”
And they should be, according to Mr. Shapella.
”At the height of the summer season, a lot of produce comes from California,” he said. “Why aren’t they selling produce from New Jersey?”
Mr. Shapella thinks legislators in Trenton could help, although he shied away from the word “lobbying” when asked if his new nonprofit would do so.
”People want sources of fresh local food, and there is a compelling interest in upholding New Jersey’s agricultural heritage,” he said. “This organization is interested in identifying ways to promote agricultural sustainability and taking action to bring that about.”
The New Jersey Association for Sustainable Agriculture has a three-member board, all of whom are active farmers. And at this point there is no staff other than Mr. Shapella. He said he’s looking for grants and other sources of funding to help the nonprofit achieve its goals. Soon to come is a Web site.
So far, Mr. Shapella said the response has been “very good” from farmers and store owners who want to provide locally grown products.
If he succeeds, the garden will stay in the Garden State.
Where did the state’s nickname come from?
There is a dispute over who coined it, but it is generally attributed to Abraham Browning, of Camden. During New Jersey Day at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphian on Aug. 24, 1876, he “compared New Jersey to an immense barrel, filled with good things to eat and open at both ends, with Pennsylvanians grabbing from one end and the New Yorkers from the other. He called New Jersey the Garden State, and the name has clung to it ever since,” according to Alfred M. Heston’s “Jersey Waggon Jaunts.” The two-volume work was published in 1926 by the Atlantic County Historical Society.

