On a recent spring day — a bright but chilly start to the 2026 planting season — representatives from organizations across New Jersey gathered at America’s Grow-a-Row’s Pittstown farm to celebrate a successful first year of a partnership dedicated to expanding access to fresh produce for neighbors in need. The farm is one of four locations totaling 423 acres, where America’s Grow-a-Row grows and donates fresh fruits and vegetables to food banks and pantries and educates people on how to eat healthy.
New Jersey’s five food banks — the Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ), Food Bank of South Jersey, Fulfill, Mercer Street Friends, and Norwescap — along with America’s Grow-a-Row, have long shared the goal of connecting abundant local harvest with families facing hunger. However, until recently, the lack of a centralized produce processing facility made it difficult to keep most of the organization’s crops here in the Garden State.
That’s where the new statewide partnership came in.
Before, about 34% of the nonprofit farm’s produce stayed in New Jersey, with the rest reaching 23 other states across the country. But in just one year, that has nearly doubled to 63% — with an ambitious goal of reaching 71% in 2026.
“It was a challenge to keep all of our food here for many different reasons, but when this team came together, we figured out new ways to repackage and distribute it. Our goal is to keep more of it here at homebase, where it belongs — the Garden State,” said Chip Paillex, President & Founder of America’s Grow-a-Row during his remarks at the event. “This has been a highlight of our year. As we’re embarking on our twenty-fifth season here at America’s Grow-a-Row, everyone all together is making this program what it is. The reason it works is because of great people coming together.”
“A year ago when all of the food bank CEOs first came together, the challenge was set before us — four million pounds of amazing produce coming from this nonprofit farm, and most of it was leaving New Jersey,” said Lisa Weber, Chief of Food Security at Mercer Street Friends and project manager for the partnership. “We know that 1 in 9 individuals are food insecure in New Jersey, and what’s most precious for them is fresh produce.”
To address this challenge, the five food banks formed a statewide task force of 10 food sourcing experts, operations professionals, and strategists. Together, the team has worked to increase direct deliveries to food pantries, involve other organizations in the effort, make infrastructure investments in America’s Grow-a-Row’s farms, find more efficient ways to clean root vegetables for distribution, and more. In 2025, this resulted in over 2.6 million pounds of fresh produce reaching the tables of neighbors in every corner of the state.
Perhaps most importantly, the task force brought the MARC into the fold, which unlocked the infrastructure needed to keep America’s Grow-a-Row’s produce in New Jersey. The MARC, with its brand new 65,000 square-foot warehouse, helped the program clear logistical hurdles that have limited this work for years. The organization’s capacity to receive, repack, and redistribute bulk produce allows America’s Grow-a-Row’s harvests to finally flow seamlessly through New Jersey food banks’ distribution networks and out to people in need.
“This partnership has gone above and beyond to solve a historic challenge and transform the way we source and share fresh produce across New Jersey,” said Elizabeth McCarthy, President & CEO of CFBNJ. “We’re proud of all we’ve accomplished in the first year alone, and we’re just getting started.”
Over the past year, this durable local food system partnership has also responded to crises. In November, the program scaled up to distribute more produce during the SNAP benefit disruption, and this spring, it will respond to the impact of the April freeze, which has hit apple and peach orchards across the state particularly hard.
The partnership’s innovative approach has drawn attention on both the state and national levels. In March, Feeding America recognized the collaboration for its work enhancing food sourcing and sharing.
“On a national stage in front of the Feeding America network, which really does value collaboration and partnership in all its forms, we were recognized,” said Triada Stampas, President & CEO of Fulfill (the Food Bank of Monmouth & Ocean Counties). “The MARC and Norwescap as program leads received a grant in recognition of the great work that we’ve done.”
At the gathering in Pittstown, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for the New Jersey Department of Agriculture Joe Atchison’s attendance showed what the collaboration means to state government.
“This administration, the previous administration, the legislature, and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture are all very committed to ensuring that people have the fresh produce they need,” he said. “We’re all here together, and that’s what’s going to solve this problem. It’s just a fantastic effort you all are making.”
The event ended not in the meeting room but out in the fields themselves, as attendees stepped into the freshly turned soil to help plant some of the season’s first crops — zucchini and cucumber. As they filled in the rows under the cool spring sun, the moment served as a reminder that the partnership’s impact starts long before food reaches pantry shelves. It starts with people coming together, planting the seeds for a healthier, more equitable, and more food secure New Jersey.