Long long ago, people flocked to Montclair from Hoboken, Jersey City, and New York for its health benefits. Sitting atop a “mountain,” the town boasted open space and fresh air. Fast forward a century or so and in 2011, we were asked to become part of the Montclair Community Farm Coalition, a fledging organization of a group of community partners that were trying to make a difference with regards to food insecurity. They had one site on Miller Street and were looking to expand. We joined the coalition and offered about a ½ acre of property on our Orange Road campus to start a Community Farms site.

Recently, Montclair Township announced that we were only 1 of 8 towns in the whole state (and there are a lot of town in NJ!) to receive the Mayors Wellness Campaign (MWC) Healthy Town designation. This was the 4th year in a row Montclair received this award.

The designation specifically cited the Community Farms Initiative, which served 475 people, increased SNAP purchases, created over 4,000 pounds of produce grown, and was supported by over 1,000 volunteers throughout the year. This successful program enabled Montclair to tackle the increase in food insecurity due to the pandemic.

We are proud to be part of the Montclair Community Farms Coalition, which consists of HOMECorp,
Montclair Department of Health and Human Services, Montclair History Center, Montclair State University, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Essex County, and Essex 4-H and Master Gardeners.

You can read more about it here.