TAKE ONE July 2020
Gardener News
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TAKE ONE No. 207
Vineland Water Tower Boasts Jersey Fresh Message to the World By Douglas H. Fisher Secretary of Agriculture
City of Vineland/Photo
Jersey Fresh logo adorns the 2-million gallon water tower, strategically located across the street from the Vineland Produce Auction on Main Road in Vineland, Cumberland County.
Over a year ago, some farmers I know were talking to me about the promotion of fruits and vegetable from our state, Of course, the subject of Jersey Fresh rolled off everyone’s tongue. Not everyone knows how this program came to be the first state-sponsored agricultural-products promotion in the nation. Nor does everyone know how it has evolved to be the most successful and longest running in the United States for produce promotion. It was Arthur Brown, the fifth New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture for New Jersey, who came up with this tagline. Secretary Brown, along with Al Murray, who was then-Director of Markets in the Department, developed the first campaign that, in various iterations, has been running effectively ever since its launch in 1984. In the world of marketing, though, you must constantly make adjustments and accommodations to make sure you continue to connect with buyers, purveyors, and ultimately and most importantly, the end user, which in this case is the consumers of fruits and vegetables. Over the years, we consistently strive to promote local farmers and farm products by enhancing the public’s understanding that you cannot be more local than Jersey Fresh. It’s grown by farmers in our communities, picked, packed and shipped daily and can be on your table the next day. Now that is fresh! So why is Jersey Fresh now painted on a water tower in Vineland, N.J.? Partly because right across the street is the Vineland Produce Auction (the largest produce cooperative east of the Mississippi), where multi-millions of dollars are transacted buying the best, freshest, most exquisite produce in the country. For years I was asked by local farmers if this could be done (the painting of the tower). I remember sitting at a celebrated local farmers (Cont. on Page 4)