The New Jersey Department of Agriculture hosted the Eastern Produce Council’s Annual BBQ May 23, at Demarest Farm in Hillsdale, N.J.
Now entering its 39th year, “Jersey Fresh” is still considered one of the most successful state agriculture promotion programs of its kind in the nation, according to a news release.
The barbecue event is one of the council’s most popular meetings every year, including EPC members, New Jersey agriculture staff, growers, shippers and retailers.
EPC president Marianne Santo of Wakefern Food Corp. kicked off the presentations by introducing state Secretary of Agriculture Doug Fisher, who thanked the council for the association he’s had with them in the last 14 years at his post.
Fisher will retire July 1 after 14 years leading the department.
Fisher then turned the presentation over to Joel Verick, president of the Vegetable Growers Association of New Jersey, and Tom Beaver, who represented the New Jersey Blueberry and Peach councils, to update the crowd on the state of the crops.
Related: Seen at Eastern Produce Council’s annual gala
After the crop updates, Santo, on behalf of the Nolan Family Foundation and Theresa Nolan, announced the winner of the 2023 $5,000 EPC Nolan Family Foundation Scholarship: Maren Burns, daughter of EPC member Brendan Burns of Bolthouse Farms. This marks the ninth year the council offered the scholarship together with Nolan and her Family Foundation.
The scholarship is based solely on the essay that applicants write about an ethical situation they were faced with and how they responded. All essays are reviewed by the Nolan Family Foundation, not the Eastern Produce Council.
After dinner, New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s Joe Atchison and Fisher led a trivia game for prizes, followed by a congratulatory cake for Fisher. Santo and Susan McAleavey Sarlund, EPC’s executive director, thanked and toasted Fisher for his accomplishments, for supporting the produce industry and the Eastern Produce Council. They wished him the best in his future.
The council will host its 48th Annual Golf Outing June 13, at Fox Hollow Golf Club in Branchburg, N.J. For more information, visit easternproducecouncil.com.
