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The Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) department had a busy year growing plants and impacts! Agricultural Agent, Meredith Melendez and Program Associate, Justine Gray spent the year expanding relationships and impacts throughout Mercer County with a variety of audiences. Meredith worked on food safety for new and existing farmers, supporting food safety practices in the gleaning world, and data and reporting for the new Organic and Regenerative Farming State Board while Justine worked with multiple programs to teach residents about sustainable and responsible home gardening. Here are some of the highlights we are most proud of this year:
Advancing Food Safety and Policy
Meredith published two different fact sheets, one of which covered a topic often requested in NJ. Her fact sheet “Protect Those You Serve: Use Produce Safety Best Practices While Gleaning: Guidance for Gleaning Organizations” provided much needed guidance on how to best harvest vegetables safely for the many organizations doing gleaning work in NJ. The fact sheet was accompanied by a 20-minute training that can be shown before every gleaning harvest to ensure that volunteers are providing the best and safest produce possible to those experiencing food insecurity. Specifically, the video and fact sheet cover how to reduce the risk of contamination from human pathogens during the harvest process. It also provides guidance on how to best prepare volunteers and information to obtain from the farmer prior to starting. This fact sheet and training are the go-to guide to making sure gleaning is done properly, and these organizations can provide safe and clean food to all.
In addition to work on food safety in the community she also played a large role in the creation, distribution and reporting of a needs assessment survey conducted to support the New Jersey Organic and Regenerative Farming Board in its mission to represent this community. The online survey was open for responses in the winter of 2024 and the results were collected and analyzed in 2025. The data was turned into a report and slide deck accessible to all here. This project focused on data collection that had not been previously done in how organic farms function and what kind of support they need to be successful. This year this information has been shared with state agencies of all sizes so that these policy decision makers can better understand this audience and how to support them as the movement for organic and regenerative farming grows here in Mercer County and across the State.
Cultivating Community Knowledge
Justine manages two major volunteer programs while delivering educational talks to community groups. This year, the Rutgers Master Gardeners offered numerous educational opportunities on sustainable and responsible gardening throughout the county. The group had programs or participated in existing programs in all 12 municipalities of Mercer County. From in-person events to Zoom presentations, the group educated 2,443 people through talks by authors, conservationists, and Justine, and through events with many community partners, including The Watershed Institute and Chickadee Creek Farm. In addition to outreach events, the Helpline, run by volunteers and overseen by Justine and Meredith, who reviewed all outgoing information, helped over 620 Mercer County residents with their home gardening inquiries.
Beyond her work with the RMG program, Justine serves as a Region 3 coordinator for the Rutgers Environmental Stewards program. This statewide initiative runs from January through May and features weekly Tuesday-night Zoom sessions on critical topics such as water conservation, soil remediation, and plastic reduction.
To bridge the gap between theory and action, Justine and her co-coordinators lead regional breakout groups after each class. These sessions focus on real-world local examples and provide actionable steps for citizens to drive positive change. The program also features hands-on field trips, such as a recent visit to Mercer Meadows. Led by Mike Long (Director of Stewardship for the Mercer County Park Commission), the group discussed native plant restoration and invasive species removal.
These experiences directly inspire the students’ required 60-hour certification projects. This year’s highlights include GIS mapping to monitor forest health and the installation of educational pollinator gardens. Want to get involved? Justine will be hosting two 30-minute information sessions on January 6th at 12:00 PM and 5:30 PM. Join us to learn how you can become a steward of your local environment!
When not working on or in these two programs, Justine speaks to various groups on a multitude of topics. Teaching is a passion, so going from town to town to teach is a highlight of her job every year! Whether it was talking to the Ewing Green team about how planting native is better for their pollinators and their bottom line, or teaching a group of Girl Scouts about tree care so they could earn their tree badge, she had a blast! In the Spring, she presented on Tick Safety to 75+ beekeepers and bee enthusiasts at an NJ Beekeeper Association event at Mercer County Community College. She taught all about native and invasive plants, insects, and animals at the WCC Cub Scout Day camp at Rosedale Park for 50 scouts who were full of enthusiasm for insects. Continuing the Insect theme, she taught the 49 4-H summer camp kids about insects and composting, so when they visited the Trent House Museum gardens, they were ready for the flying friends that frequent the garden. In addition to these in-person events, Justine gave a few talks to various libraries in Mercer County about how to grow their own food.
It’s been a busy year, and we are already planning on how to make next year even better with more projects and partnerships! Thank you for growing with us and for reading along. Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media to stay up to date on our upcoming events next year.