New Jersey’s link between its agricultural producers and the state’s students — as current and future customers for agriculture — continues to be a focus of efforts by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture to expand produce market opportunities.

The connection between schools and farms dates back as far as the establishment of schools in the Garden State. But in those early days, when a vast majority of jobs in the state and nation were tied to agriculture, it was about educational institutions ensuring that the industry that gave the state its nickname would continue to have strong leaders. These days, that equation has been flipped, and about 1 percent of the nation’s citizens are involved in farming, so most students don’t have plans to be part of agricultural production at all, and the emphasis is on their role as consumers of agricultural products.

The department wants to make sure that school is among those places where youngsters are exposed to healthy eating habits and the ever-expanding world of nutritious foods that come from New Jersey farms.

The recent history of the relationship was charted in the late 1990s, when the New Jersey Department of Agriculture assumed the role of administering all school-feeding programs. In the early-2000s, New Jersey joined just one other state — Texas — in adopting comprehensive nutritional standards for the food offered in cafeterias, school stores, vending machines and as part of in-school fundraising activities.

Once that requirement for healthier choices in schools was established, the Department has looked for every opportunity to connect the people who produce good foods with their nearest schools. With our northern climate and less-then-year-round season, New Jersey farmers have some opportunity early in the season, before schools’ summer break, and late in the season, as school starts again in the fall, for fresh produce to be sold into the cafeterias. And even though peak season for our famous blueberries is in mid-summer, schools can access cups of frozen blueberries for use when school resumes.

To address the fact that many of our Jersey Fresh produce items are in high season when school is not in session, we have worked with the Rutgers University Food Innovation Center through a USDA grant to develop packaged foods featuring New Jersey agricultural favorites that can be stored for later use, including eggplant rollatini with Jersey tomato primavera sauce and yogurt parfaits with blueberries and cranberries.

The department also has linked up with the USDA Farm to School Program’s webinars each month to showcase the variety of ways school districts can purchase local foods. The webinars, held on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month, include topics such as procurement basics to using geographic preference, finding local producers, and buying local through the Department of Defense’s DoD Fresh program.

To further spur participation by both schools and farmers, the Department in 2014 established the new “Jersey Fresh Farm-to-School” recognition program. This marketing opportunity is designed to foster the link between farmers and the schools in their communities.

For farmers, this creates greater opportunity to become integrated into their schools in a way that can lead to greater sales, either directly to the schools or to the families of students who get exposed to the farm through school.

Farm visits, the inclusion of food-related education into normal curricula, culinary classes and even involvement in the development of school gardens all help our farmers strike up a stronger connection to the schools and communities surrounding them. This is especially important in a densely populated state like New Jersey, where farming occurs very close to where people live.

Gov. Christie recently signed into law an act establishing Jersey Fresh Farm to School Week, which made the last week of September of every year Farm to School Week. The observance highlights and promotes the value and importance of New Jersey agriculture and fresh foods produced in New Jersey and the value and importance of fresh farm foods for children, their general health and their success in school.

We’ve been told by numerous school nurses and nutritionists that students now talk about their favorite fruits and vegetables, and about how they convince their parents to include them in their home food shopping.

To be sure, these successes seen in linking farmers to schools have been expanded by reaching out to institutions like hospitals, seeking to incorporate more New Jersey agricultural products into their cafeterias and patient meals, and even some of our professional baseball stadiums, where more locally grown New Jersey products are being used at food concessions.

The department will continue seeking all opportunities for our farmers to tap the vast market that exists among our schools and other non-traditional venues. By improving the nutrition of items offered in these areas, expanding the current market for farm products and building a wider appreciation of fresh produce and other agricultural offerings, we set the stage for a new produce-marketing dynamic for our farmers, students and residents, and create a win-win connection that serves all of us well into the future.

Douglas H. Fisher is the New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture.