Feeding America and America’s Grow-a-Row expand produce access across New Jersey
Feeding America and America’s Grow-a-Row expand produce access across New Jersey
When America’s Grow-a-Row, a nonprofit providing farm-fresh foods for communities, set out to donate 4 million pounds of fresh produce in 2025 to people experiencing food insecurity, one question stood out: How could more of that food stay in New Jersey and help the communities where it was grown?
The answer came through the power of partnership.
Over the past year, America’s Grow-a-Row, five Feeding America member food banks in New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Cooperative (MARC) — an initiative of Feeding Pennsylvania and one of 11 regional cooperatives within the Feeding America network — built a new model for moving fresh produce from farm fields to food pantries across the state. The result: locally grown fruits and vegetables are reaching more New Jersey families than ever before.
Together, the partners exceeded their original goal, distributing 4.2 million pounds of produce. They also dramatically increased the share of America’s Grow-a-Row produce remaining in New Jersey from 34 percent in 2024 to 63 percent in 2025, resulting in more than 2.6 million pounds of fresh food staying in the Garden State this year alone. This effort demonstrates what is possible when growers, food banks and logistics partners align around a common goal: ensuring everyone has access to nutritious food.
Founded in 2002 as a father-daughter gardening project, America’s Grow-a-Row has grown into a more-than- 400-acre farming operation across four New Jersey farms that donates 100 percent of everything it grows. The Pittstown, NJ-based nonprofit mobilizes more than 14,000 volunteers annually to harvest, rescue and deliver free, fresh produce to communities with limited access to basic necessities — feeding more than 150,000 people every day during its growing season.
“Collaboration is the cornerstone to our work at America’s Grow-a-Row. We are part of the solution to hunger but we cannot do it alone,” said Chip Paillex, founder and president of America’s Grow-a-Row. “We believe that access to fresh, high-quality produce is not a privilege, it is a fundamental part of living a healthy lifestyle for all people.”
Feeding America brings a complementary strength: a nationwide network of more than 250 food banks, 20 statewide food bank associations, 10 regional co-ops and 60,000 agency partners, food pantries and meal programs that understands community needs firsthand and can connect available food with the people and places that need it most. That reach, paired with trusted local relationships, supports its vision of an America where no one is hungry.
The New Jersey initiative brings the strengths of these two organizations together. In June 2025, America’s Grow-a-Row approached the MARC and five Feeding America member food banks — Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Food Bank of South Jersey, Fulfill, Mercer Street Friends and Norwescap — with an opportunity to expand the reach of fresh produce across the state. The challenge was practical: much of the produce America’s Grow-a-Row harvested was packed in bulk bins, making it difficult for smaller agencies and pantries to receive and distribute efficiently. Through months of planning, the partners designed a system that would allow produce to be repacked into agency-friendly units and delivered through a coordinated statewide network.
The MARC’s distribution infrastructure, logistics expertise and industry relationships became the connective tissue that turned a good idea into an operational reality. By receiving bulk produce, maintaining the cold chain, repacking items into agency-friendly quantities and coordinating transportation, MARC helped reduce waste while increasing access across the charitable food network. The MARC’s partner, commercial fruit and vegetable purveyor, Ryeco, also helped to route surplus, high-quality inventory into the hands of food-insecure individuals.
“By leveraging the MARC’s cold chain and operational expertise, we are both increasing the amount of produce we are retaining in New Jersey, and reducing the time it takes to get fresh produce from the America’s Grow-a-Row fields to the tables of New Jersey families across the state,” said Beth Hamilton, executive director of the MARC. “At the MARC, we share their belief that everyone deserves access to fresh food for healthy living. By working together, we’ve turned that belief into a reality for many New Jersey families who now have better access to the fresh, nutritious food they need to thrive.”
The pilot’s first-year results illustrate the impact of a coordinated network:
- 505,124 pounds of produce shipped
- 27,135 units repacked
- 282 orders delivered
- 35 locations served
- 12 produce items repacked
In 2025, the participating food banks were able to distribute America’s Grow-a-Row produce to all of New Jersey’s 21 counties.
What makes this effort noteworthy is what it reflects about the Feeding America network, and about the neighbors at the heart of it. Behind every pound of produce moved is a family walking into their local pantry and finding fresh, nutritious food that supports their health and well-being. No single organization could have made that possible alone. America’s Grow-a-Row brings the produce. Food banks bring the trusted community relationships and deep understanding of local needs that ensure it reaches the right people. The MARC brings the infrastructure and logistics expertise to move perishable food efficiently, so that what grows in New Jersey fields ends up on New Jersey tables.
“Thanks to the collaboration between America’s Grow-a-Row, Feeding America and the MARC, and New Jersey’s food banks, we have created an innovative model that keeps more nutritious food in our state and delivers it efficiently to neighbors facing hunger,” said Paillex. “This is what meaningful partnership looks like: strengthening local food systems, expanding access to healthy food, and ensuring more New Jersey families can put fresh, nutritious produce on their tables.”
That networked approach is increasingly important as food banks work to provide more nutritious options for the communities they support. Fresh fruits and vegetables remain among the most sought-after foods at pantries, yet they are often among the most challenging to source, store and distribute. Partnerships with growers like America’s Grow-a-Row help close that gap while ensuring neighbors have access to food that supports long-term health and well-being.
The initiative also reflects a shared commitment to food access for all. Hunger does not affect every community equally, and ensuring fresh produce reaches neighbors in every corner of the state requires intentional coordination and investment. By leveraging statewide infrastructure and local expertise, the partnership helps ensure that access to nutritious food is not determined by geography.
For Feeding America, that is what progress looks like: neighbors facing hunger at the center, strong local partnerships and a network capable of turning excess into access.
As America’s Grow-a-Row continues to expand its impact, and Feeding America works toward a future where everyone has the food and resources they need to thrive, the New Jersey pilot offers a compelling example of what can happen when organizations align around a shared purpose.
Not simply moving food but building a food system that works better for everyone. One harvest, one partnership and one neighbor at a time.
