American Farmland Trust: Voices for Change

Good for Farming, Good for New Jersey

Beginning in the fall of 2007, all public schools in the state of New Jersey will conform to regulations that greatly reduce the fat and sugar content of foods consumed by school children. This means fewer soft drinks, fatty foods and high sugar choices in both vending machines and ala carte lines in the cafeteria.

Instead, the schools will make more fresh fruits and vegetables and healthier snacks available while better nutritional education will be taught. The department of New Jersey’s Secretary of Agriculture, Charles Kuperus, has led the changes.

“There are really three components here,” says Kuperus. “Eating right, more exercise and educating people about nutrition. That’s really what it boils down to.” Nutrition education is now part of schools’ core curriculum.

The new regulations seek to benefit agriculture by emphasizing, in the order of preference, local, regional and then national food sources for these healthier products. The state sought to involve the food industry as well as agriculture in the process, which gave vendors and producers time to prepare for the changes.

“We are the point of the arrow of public policy leading an industry shift,” says Kuperus. “Industry is shifting slightly behind us but not far behind us. They’ve seen the trends in the marketplace.”

Professional Background: Charles Kuperus grew up in New Jersey on his family’s dairy farm. Within three years after graduating from high school, he had started his own nursery and garden center. Before he became the state’s secretary of ag, Kuperus served as commissioner of the New Jersey State Planning Commission.

Farm Bill Focus:
Healthy diets, supporting local agriculture and farm to school programs.

Current Initiatives:
“Healthy Choices, Healthy Kids,” which removes foods of minimal nutritional value from vending machines, ala carte lines, school stores and fundraisers on school property during school hours.

Major beverage companies have ramped up the number of 100 percent fruit juice drinks available, in addition to water and reduced fat milk products. One well-known snack cake company initially complained that the new regulations would significantly hurt their business, according to Kuperus. “Now they have a whole product line that meets the standards in New Jersey,” he says.

In addition, agriculture is looking at value-added products that can be used year-round in schools, such as quick-frozen blueberries and sliced apples—nearly a third of which were sliced and grown in New Jersey and neighboring New York.

“Often nutrition programs are disconnected from the agricultural policy discussion,” says Kuperus. “What we’re trying to do is keep them connected—we want to shorten the length between farmers and schools.”

Likewise, the state has implemented the same dietary guidelines for the several million dollars worth of food that will be purchased to feed the poor.

This is part and parcel of what USDA heard when it held numerous “listening sessions” around the country in preparation for a new farm bill. “People are saying there is a need for conservation and changes in the nutrition programs,” says Kuperus. “The USDA did a major service to this whole discussion and, really, to our job from an individual state perspective.”

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