On Tuesday, May 21st, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture hosted the Eastern Produce Council’s Annual BBQ at Demarest Farm in Hillsdale, NJ. It was a beautiful evening for a BBQ with a great turnout of EPC members, NJDA staff, and New Jersey farmers, growers, and shippers.
Theresa Lowden, EPC President and Executive VP Produce & Floral JOH Mid-Atlantic, welcomed the crowd in attendance and kicked off the presentations by introducing the new Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Wengryn. Ed expressed his gratitude for the EPC association and the “Jersey Fresh” campaign now in it’s 40th year. Ed then turned the presentation over to Bonnie Lundblad of the NJ Peach Council, Brandon Raso of the NJ Blueberry Council, and Joel Verick, President of the Vegetable Growers Association of New Jersey, who shared updates on the state of their crops.
Following the Crop updates, Lowden, on behalf of the Nolan Family Foundation and Theresa Nolan, announced the winner of this year’s $5,000 EPC/Nolan Family Foundation Scholarship. This year’s winner is Charlie Sarlund, son of EPC Executive Director, Susan McAleavey Sarlund, and grandson of late EPC Executive Director, John McAleavey. Charlie will be a Junior at Providence College in the fall.
This marks the 10th year the EPC has offered the scholarship together with Theresa and her Family Foundation. What makes this scholarship unique is that it is based solely on the essay that applicants write about an ethical situation they were faced with and how they responded. All essays are reviewed by the Nolan Family Foundation, not the Eastern Produce Council.
There was a cake to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the very successful “Jersey Fresh” campaign and all attendees received a Jersey Fresh bag with an NJDA summer BBQ Set.
The EPC will host its 49th Annual Golf Outing on Tuesday, June 11th at Fox Hollow Golf Club in Branchburg, NJ. For more information, visit their website, easternproducecouncil.com.
