Student Summer Meal Program kicks off in Union City
New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher and USDA Food and Nutrition Service Deputy Regional Administrator Diana Limbacher helped serve lunch to 240 students in the Union City recreation program participating in the Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program last week. The event, highlighting access of free summer meals for low income students, was held at Jose Marti Middle School on Tuesday, July 14.
The Summer Food Service Program helps ensure children who receive free or reduced price lunch during the school year continue getting healthy meals during the summer. Secretary Fisher wants to call attention to these programs to increase the number of children accessing these vital resources.
The federally-funded program reimburses participating organizations for meals served to children who live in areas in which at least 50 percent of the children qualify for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program.
Most participating organizations may be reimbursed for up to two meals a day: lunch and either breakfast or a snack.
Fisher noted that most Summer Food Service sponsors have begun their programs for the year and are available to students in their areas.
To learn more about the New Jersey Department of Agriculture visit www.facebook.com/NJDeptofAgriculture and www.facebook.com/JerseyFreshOfficial, or Twitter @NJDA1 and @JerseyFreshNJDA.
Source of ‘that maple syrup smell’ to close NB office
Frutarom, a manufacturer of flavors and ingredients for food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals, is closing its office in North Bergen, according to nj.com. The company will lay off 50 employees by Aug. 31, with a limited number of management positions eligible to transfer to another location. Employees may be offered severance packages based on their years with the company and whether or not they are union members.
Frutarom is an international company with 3,300 employees in more than 150 countries. They are expanding through acquisitions, including eight this year. The North Bergen closure is said to be part of a reorganization and consolidation.
The company made headlines in 2009 when New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg identified them as the source of a sweet, maple syrupy odor that occasionally drifted over the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The smell was said to come from fenugreek seeds, an ingredient in some artificial flavorings.
Inti-Illimani to headline Summer Concerts on the Hudson
Chilean band Inti-Illimani will appear in concert on Wednesday, July 22nd at 7 p.m. at Lincoln Harbor Park in Weehawken. Named after the mountain at La Paz, Bolivia, Inti-Illimani means “Sun of the Illimani,” in the Aymara dialect. The founding members of this legendary group explored the indigenous cultures of Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Argentina. Some 48 years since its founding, Inti-Illimani continues to tour throughout South and Central America, Europe, Australia and North America. In November 2014, Inti-Illimani released “Teoría de Cuerdas,” the ensemble’s 36th studio album.
Inti-Illimani’s music has become Latin America’s visceral link between pueblo and people, exemplified by Nueva Canción (new song). Nueva Canción is not only the name of the early Inti-Illimani recording which propelled the group into global recognition and popularity, but is also the name of the socio-political, artistic movement of the 1970s and ‘80s throughout Latin America, which sought to resurrect and celebrate the traditional folk sounds of Latin culture while delivering messages of social change and revolution.
Free parking is available and public transportation, including NJ Transit bus from Port Authority and Light Rail, will bring concertgoers to Lincoln Harbor. The park does not have an address so, if using GPS, please use 1600 Harbor Boulevard in Weehawken, the address for the new residential building located directly across the road from the park.
Fulop joins transit union in opposing NJ Transit fare hike
Jersey City Mayor Steven M. Fulop along with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) and a group called New Jersey for Transit issued a statement on July 15 condemning New Jersey Transit’s decision to raise fares by nine percent and eliminate six bus lines and two train lines, which was approved despite viable immediate and long-term solutions presented by the “Fight the Hike Campaign.”
“While I am disappointed in today’s decision by the NJ Transit Board members, I am not surprised as this has been the pattern of leadership at the agency,” said Mayor Fulop. “NJ Transit should be exploring the expansion of transit and building the strong transit system commuters deserve to create long-term sustainability as we outlined. Working families in Jersey City don’t need an added tax and there are alternative measures to fixing NJ Transit’s budget issues.”
The latest fare hike by New Jersey Transit’s is the fifth since 2002 and will affect the 47.3 percent of Jersey City residents who rely on mass transit to get to and from work, Fulop said.
Mayor Fulop in partnership with ATU launched in May an aggressive campaign called “Fight the Hike,” a non-profit entity, to raise awareness around NJ Transit’s fare hike and service cut proposal.
The Fight the Hike Campaign presented a three-pronged approach to eliminate the $60 million NJ Transit budget shortfall. The measures outlined included requiring NJ Transit to sell all vacant parcels of land owned by the agency statewide, establishing Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in urban areas as well as suburbs, and expanding bus and train capacity as ridership increases.