Sources of Food in New Jersey
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Sources of Food in New Jersey
New Jersey is known as home to fresh and luscious food (Billings, 2017). Subsequently, New Jersey’s food system is influenced by diversified ethnic groups such as the Italians, Mexicans, Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese. These different ethnic groups consume diversified ethnic foods stuff, contributing to the prevailing food system in New Jersey. The food system phenomenon in New Jersey is significantly affected by globalization, industrialized agriculture, foraging, and garden state.
Forces such as urbanization manifested by globalization affect the nature of food systems in New Jersey by changing the food systems’ nature by increasing the diversity and affordability of food and changing the quality and nutrition values (Mathews 2017). Backyard growing as a source of local food in New Jersey was developed due to globalization forces, which led to changes in dietary patterns and nutrition transition. The complex relationship between the changing nutritional and dietary patterns in global societies influences the consumption behaviors both at the local and national levels. Moreover, urbanization in New Jersey has led to a strain on locally produced foodstuff, which has resulted in the general rise in foodstuff prices leading to the desire for backyard food growing practices to supplement the unaffordable nutrients.
Foraging is subsequently another source of food in New Jersey, which involves the consumption of wild food. Wild edible food sources such as Beach plum and garlic mustard are consumed as desserts or high-end eateries. New Jersey Pine Barrens is an example of an Atlantic Coastal area where food foraging takes place. Ideally, there are two distinct types of food foraging; foraging for choice edible and survival edible. Survival edible involves foraging wild plants for food to supplement unaffordable nutrients, while choice edible foraging is foraging wild plants for discoveries or research purposes.
Additionally, industrialized agriculture is one of the main sources of fresh foods in New Jersey (Doehlert, 2010). Due to the increased demand for food in New Jersey, the lawmakers SAE developed a land-use policy. The poor and unfertile land was set aside for daily and poultry farming. Subsequently, the fertile land was an asset aside for abundant crop and vegetable farming by employing modernized skilled labor. This way, the food leap across agriculture’s supply chain has greatly increased over the last few decades.
Farmers in Garden state are popular for their superior summer fruit production in New Jersey. Garden State produces more than 100 different types of vegetables and fruits, either freshly consumed or processed for consumption in New Jersey and the entire global market. Globally, New Jersey is ranked among the top 10 producers of cranberries, blueberries, tomatoes, apples, and asparagus. The garden state vineyards also play a vital role in enabling the Vintners to develop a variety of New Jersey wines.
Seafood and fish obtained along the Atlantic coast of New Jersey are valuable food sources (Burger et al.2009). Fish and seafood include bluefish, tilefish, hake, shellfish, and other harvested seafood species. Seafood is used for commercial purposes and supplements the essential nutrients required by the human body. A portion of income obtained from commercial purposes and export of surplus agricultural products is used to import other foodstuffs and machinery that New Jersey does not produce for herself.
References
Billings, George A (2017). Systems of Farming in Central New Jersey. Washington, DC: GPO.
Burger, J., Pflugh, K. K., Lurig, L., Von Hagen, L. A., & Von Hagen, S. (2009). Fishing in Urban New Jersey: Ethnicity Affects Information Sources, Pe ception, and Compliance. Risk Analysis, 19(2), 217-229.
Doehlert, Charles A. Blueberries in the Garden. (, 2010). New Brunswick, NJ: New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station.
Matthews, K. R., Kniel, K. E., & Montville, T. J. (2017). Food microbiology: an introduction. John Wiley & Sons.