Bill Text: NJ S2819 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Directs Department of Agriculture to publish on its website "New Jersey Gleaning Week" and "Farmers Against Hunger Day" page.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-12-17 - Substituted by A4079 [S2819 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-S2819-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JEFF VAN DREW
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)
SYNOPSIS
Directs Department of Agriculture to publish on its website "New Jersey Gleaning Week" and "Farmers Against Hunger Day" page.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the website of the Department of Agriculture, and supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Department of Agriculture shall publish on its Internet website, and update as appropriate, a page for "New Jersey Gleaning Week," established by J.R. of 2015 (pending before the Legislature as Assembly Joint Resolution No. 93 of 2014-15), and "Farmers Against Hunger Day," established by J.R. of 2015 (pending before the Legislature as Assembly Joint Resolution No. 94 of 2014-15), for the purposes of educating the public on food insecurity and food waste, recognizing the need of many New Jersey households for fresh, healthy foods, and informing the public of any events offered during "New Jersey Gleaning Week" and "Farmers Against Hunger Day." The department shall post on the page a hyperlink to the website of the New Jersey Agricultural Society, so that farmers, community organizations, businesses, and volunteers may learn more about gleaning efforts in the State.
2. This act shall take effect upon the enactment of both J.R. of 2015 (pending before the Legislature as Assembly Joint Resolution No. 93 of 2014-15) and J.R. of 2015 (pending before the Legislature as Assembly Joint Resolution No. 94 of 2014-15).
STATEMENT
This bill directs the Department of Agriculture to publish on its website, and update as appropriate, a page for "New Jersey Gleaning Week" and "Farmers Against Hunger Day."
Each year, approximately 40 percent of the United States food supply goes uneaten due to losses at the farm, retail, and consumer levels. At the same time, 14 percent of U.S. households struggle to put enough food on the table, leaving 49 million Americans, including 16 million children, at risk of going hungry. In New Jersey, in particular, 1.15 million residents, including 375,000 children suffer from food insecurity. Increasing the efficiency of our food system, so that all Americans have access to fresh, healthy food, is imperative, and requires a collaborative effort between governments, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and consumers. Gleaning, which is the process of collecting excess fresh food from farms, markets, and other locations to provide to those in need, is one important way to achieve this goal.
"New Jersey Gleaning Week," which would be established by Assembly Joint Resolution No. 93 of 2014-15, would take place during the last full week of September. "Farmers Against Hunger Day," which would be established by Assembly Joint Resolution No. 94 of 2014-15, would take place on the Wednesday of "New Jersey Gleaning Week." This bill would direct the department to publish on its website a page for "New Jersey Gleaning Week" and "Farmers Against Hunger Day" for the purposes of educating the public on the issues of food insecurity and food waste, recognizing the need of many New Jersey households for fresh, healthy foods, and informing the public of any events offered during this week and day. The page would also include a hyperlink to the website of the New Jersey Agricultural Society, so that farmers, community organizations, businesses, and volunteers may learn more about gleaning efforts in the State.
