Food waste in NJ: Leftover foods used to help those who are left out

Phaedra Trethan | The Courier-Post

Editor's note: This story is part of #WasteNotNJ, a special USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey project focusing on New Jersey's efforts to reduce food waste.

Not all the corn grown at Dawn and Andrew Buzby's Salem County farm looks perfect.

Some of the ears are a little too small to be sold to produce stand operators, wholesalers and CSA members that buy from A.T. Buzby Farm in Mannington, just down Route 40 from Cowtown Rodeo. Birds might have picked at pieces of the ears, or it simply doesn't have the "perfect" look many shoppers seek.

The flavor, though, is still there, said Dawn Buzby, and those imperfect ears are still perfectly edible.

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"When people go to their farmstand, they want perfection," said Buzby. "But just because it's not perfect, that doesn't mean it isn't good. The taste, the flavor are still excellent."

Once a week during the farm's peak growing season, volunteers from Philabundance canvass the cornrows, picking corn that wouldn't work for retail or wholesale, but can still be used. The nonprofit then takes the corn right to its facility and distributes it to people in need all over the Philadelphia-Southern New Jersey region.

Since partnering with Philabundance in 2013, Buzby Farm has donated more than 230,000 pounds of produce, all gleaned from its fields.

"Otherwise, it would all get mowed over," said Buzby.

Samantha Retamar, communications coordinator at Philabundance, said Buzby Farm is among a handful of New Jersey farms that provide them with fresh produce. The others are Dan Graiff Farms in Newfield, which has donated more than 45,000 pounds of produce since 2016; Duffield Farms in Sewell (30,000 pounds since 2012), and America's Grow A Row in Pittstown (170,000 pounds grown specifically for Philabundance since 2017).

"Our farmer partners are amazing in allowing us to glean through their perfectly edible produce to provide it to those in need," she wrote in an email.

The Food Bank of South Jersey, among other efforts to channel surplus food to those who need it, partners with peach orchards and co-ops to collect fruit that isn't sold, and, working with Campbell's Soup, created Just Peachy Salsa, sold at farmer's markets and local retailers with proceeds going to the Food Bank.

“To make Just Peachy Salsa, we rescue a portion of the 800,000 pounds of peaches in South Jersey that would otherwise go to waste,” said Melissa Donnelly, Campbell's manager for sustainability integration and metrics. The company, which channels much of its food surplus back into animal feed, compost and biomaterial energy, has committed to reducing food waste 50 percent by 2030.

Chip Paillex founded America's Grow A Row in 2002 with a small, 30 foot-by-30 foot garden at his Hunterdon County home. He and his daughter Kyra, then 4, heard about the need for fresh produce at a local food pantry and decided to donate what they had grown: 120 pounds, about $3,000 in produce, in the first year.

Today, the program partners with five farms throughout the state: Pittstown Farm in Pittstown, Alexandria Township Farm in Milford, Valley Crest Farm and Preserve in ClintonTownship, Longmeadow Farms in Hope, and Riamede Farm in Chester. They also glean produce from smaller farms as well.

America's Grow A Row also distributes food at its Free Farm Markets, Paillex said.

"We don't dictate what people should take; we lay out all the varieties (of produce) and people can take what they want," he added. "It's like they have some ownership, like they're a part of this.

WATCH: Hammonton grocer donates to food bank Produce manager Debbie Green culls apples for a food bank Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at ShopRite in Hammonton, N.J.

"It's all about empowerment and ownership and engagement."

Paillex, who used to work in the food industry, spoke to the owners of his local ShopRite as well.

He offered to pick up produce that was past its sell-by date but still edible.

"Stores might have some produce that's on the edge, but for someone who doesn't have any produce at all, it's not like a grocery store shopper, who's going to leave it in their crisper for a few days," he said. "If you have no produce in the house, you're going to use it right away."

Indeed, grocery stores, with aisles and aisles of packaged foods, baked goods, meats and produce, are constantly culling items that can no longer be sold. Many baked goods are only sold on the day they're made. Meats have a short window in which they can be sold. Dairy products and produce are only good for a short time.

Acme Supermarkets have partnered with Philabundance since 2004, said Retamar, who called the chain "the most significant retailer of shelf stable, perishable and frozen foods," with 68 of its Delaware Valley locations participating in Philabundance's Grocers Against Hunger Program.

In 2017, Acme donated 4,090,000 pounds of food to Philabundance, accounting for 38 percent of its retail rescued items.

ShopRite stores, as well, have donated much of their surplus foods to food banks and nonprofits to fight hunger. Under their parent company, Wakefern Corporation, many ShopRite stores are family-owned, like the Zallie family, who own stores in Lawnside, Clementon, Berlin, Laurel Springs, Medford and Williamstown; and the Ravitz family, who own stores in Cherry Hill, Marlton, Mount Laurel and a PriceRite store in Camden.

The Sumas family, operating under Village Supermarkets, owns 26 ShopRite stores in New Jersey, including locations in East Orange, Elizabeth, Morristown, Watchung, Chatham, Hammonton, Hillsborough, Livingston and Somers Point. Last year, Village earned a Grocery Stewardship Certification from Manomet, a Massachusetts-based environmental nonprofit.

"We've always had a commitment to fighting hunger," said Amanda Fischer, Village Supermarkets' marketing manager.

Village Supermarkets donated 1,082,000 pounds of food last year to food banks and pantries throughout the state, Fischer said.

"It's about our associates caring," she said. Each section manager — meats, produce, bakery, grocery, frozen foods and dairy — is responsible for culling foods in their respective parts of the store each day. It's loaded onto trucks and taken within a day to its donation destinations, to ensure it's still fresh when it gets to those who need it.

The Food Bank moves about 11 million pounds of food each year, according to chief operating officer Joe Njoroge — much of it donated from large retailers including ShopRite and Walmart, Starbucks and donations that "range from a box of cereal to a truckload of food."

David Goldstein, director of operations for Fulfill, a food bank serving Monmouth and Ocean counties, said big stores are the source of big donations: The Neptune-based nonprofit receives donations from ShopRite, Target, Walmart, Whole Foods, Wegmans, Stop and Shop, Sam's Club and other retailers.

"We'll pick items up within a 24-hour period and move them to our partners so they're ready to consume," he said. "This allows us to get food that would otherwise just go to waste, so it helps us but it also helps them by cutting down on their waste disposal costs."

Fulfill also receives donations from farms, but those donations are seasonal. Grocery stores are able to provide year-round donations, he noted.

"If I'm talking about a palette of apples, for example, there are costs I (as a retailer) have to incur to get rid of it if I can't sell it," he said. "If I can donate it, it's going to another end user and I cut down on costs. But I'm also being a good corporate citizen. I'm doing something my employees want to be part of, and I'm helping people, collaborating with all these partners to do it.

"It's a win-win-win-win."

Phaedra Trethan: @CP_Phaedra; 856-486-2417; ptrethan@gannettnj.com

The USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey team is tackling the issue of food waste, taking a look at the worst offenders and the innovators leading the charge to cut food waste. We'll also show you how we can all stop wasting food in New Jersey, from farm to kitchen. Check back at northjersey.com this week for more in our #WasteNotNJ series.

#WasteNot for CFET

The Courier-Post will partner with the Farm & Fisherman Tavern in Cherry Hill and other community organizations to offer a special tasting, farm tour and community conversation about reducing food waste, on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 5:30 p.m. at FireWorks Gallery in South Camden. With a menu orchestrated by Chef Todd Fuller of Farm & Fisherman, the event will include Scrap App tastings, live music and tours of urban farming spaces by Farmer Jon Compton of the Center for Environmental Transformation (CFET), an urban farming internship program in South Camden. Also included will be a special beer brewed exclusively for the event by Tonewood Brewing Company. Advance tickets are $40 or two for $75 in advance; $20 for Camden City residents. At the door, if available, tickets are $45. Proceeds will benefit CFET. The event is will feature chefs from The Food Bank of South Jersey, Neighborhood Center and Cathedral Kitchen, with support from Campbell's Soup. To reserve a space, call the Farm & Fisherman Tavern at (856) 356-2282 after Aug. 1.

Watch: #WasteNot for CFET Local chefs to illustrate the need for reducing food waste during a “Scrap Apps’’ tasting of appetizers as part of #WasteNot for the Center for Environmental Transformation.

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