Sponsored by:
Assemblyman PARKER SPACE
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Assemblywoman PATRICIA EGAN JONES
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
Assemblyman BOB ANDRZEJCZAK
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)
Assemblyman ADAM J. TALIAFERRO
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes “Best Use of Ugly Produce Award Program.”
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain kinds of agricultural produce and supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Department of Agriculture shall establish an award program to be known as the “Best Use of Ugly Produce Award Program.”
Under the program, the department shall recognize a person or organization who proposes what is deemed to be the best use of ugly produce or has successfully implemented such a use. The department may give the award annually or at such other intervals as the department determines appropriate for promoting the use of ugly produce as much as possible.
b. The department shall establish an application procedure and criteria and guidelines for the eligibility, nomination, and judging of applications for the award.
c. The department shall post the name of the recipient of the “Best Use of Ugly Produce Award” prominently on the department's internet website, and shall recognize the recipient through the award of a certificate, a press announcement, or another form of recognition deemed appropriate to highlight the achievements of the recipient. The department may consult and coordinate with other governmental entities and private, nonprofit, or charitable associations, organizations, or businesses, such as those in the agricultural, grocery, restaurant, food manufacturer, food supply, food bank, food pantry, and healthcare sectors of the food industry, in implementing the program and recognizing each award recipient.
d. As used in this section, “ugly produce” means any fruit, vegetable, or grain that is fresh, undamaged, and suitable for human consumption, but does not meet industry-accepted standards for cosmetic appearance.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require the Department of Agriculture to establish an award program to be known as the “Best Use of Ugly Produce Award Program.” “Ugly produce” is defined in the bill as any fruit, vegetable, or grain that is fresh, undamaged, and suitable for human consumption, but does not meet industry-accepted standards for cosmetic appearance.
Under the program, the department would recognize a person or organization who proposes what is deemed to be the best use of “ugly produce” or has successfully implemented such a use. The department may give the award annually or at such other intervals as the department determines appropriate for promoting the use of “ugly produce” as much as possible. The department would establish the application procedure and criteria and guidelines for the eligibility, nomination, and judging of applications for the award.
The department also would be required to post the name of the recipient of the “Best Use of Ugly Produce Award” prominently on the department's internet website, and recognize the recipient through the award of a certificate, a press announcement, or another form of recognition deemed appropriate to highlight the achievements of the recipient. Under the bill, the department may consult and coordinate with other governmental entities and private, nonprofit, or charitable associations, organizations, or businesses, such as those in the agricultural, grocery, restaurant, food manufacturer, food supply, food bank, food pantry, and healthcare sectors of the food industry, in implementing the program and recognizing each award recipient.
Food waste is a major issue in the United States and globally. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), unwanted and discarded food squanders resources, including water, land, energy, labor, and capital. In addition, when food waste is dumped in a landfill, it rots and creates methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas. The FAO has estimated that one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption – about 1.3 billion tons – is lost or wasted every year, and the food loss and waste in industrialized countries equates to a value of approximately $680 billion. The FAO has also stated that if one fourth of the food lost or wasted globally could be saved, it would be enough to feed 870 million hungry people.
Agricultural produce that falls below cosmetic standards is often rejected by supermarkets and restaurants, and consumers historically have avoided it despite the fact that the produce is perfectly fit for human consumption. The discarding of such cosmetically imperfect, or “ugly,” produce is a type of food waste. In order to help reduce that type of food waste, the “ugly food movement” has taken off around the world, particularly in Europe and Australia, where supermarkets successfully sell cosmetically imperfect foods which otherwise may have been thrown out. In the United States, increased public awareness of massive food waste has led several food retailers to offer cosmetically imperfect fruits and vegetables to customers at reduced prices, which provides savings for customers and a larger profit margin for farmers, while reducing food waste. In New Jersey, farmers also regularly donate cosmetically imperfect or gleaned produce to food banks and food pantries. But much more must be done in the food supply chain to reduce the incredible waste of this precious resource. This bill is one small step toward achieving that goal.