Growing the American Dream in New Jersey

A young man, armed with a degree in agricultural engineering and experience in corn flour production, leaves his home in Vera Cruz, Mexico and arrives in America looking for a better life. 

He learns about a program designed to assist immigrant farmers to get established in the region and enrolls.  After a period of training and apprenticeship, he eventually establishes his own farm in Hunterdon County. 

He sells his produce in GreenMarkets in New York City and New Jersey and donates what he doesn't sell to the homeless. 

He needs a loan to help him through the slow growing season and UCEDC provides the needed capital with a microloan.  With that support, the young man hopes to add seven new employees during the busy growing season.

A fairy tale?  Not at all: it's the true-life story of Hector Perez, owner of 46-acre Jersey Farm Produce in Milford.

Sustaining Health and Heritage

After arriving in the U.S. in 2000, Perez joined the New Farmer Development Project (NFDP), a GROWNYC initiative that helps immigrants with agricultural experience to become farmers and to establish small environmentally friendly farms in the region. He completed an intensive three-month training program and became the manager of a 38-acre farm in upstate New York. 

In 2009, he met Professor Win Cargill, head of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Hunterdon County and together they formed Jersey Farm Produce. Today, the company is solely owned by Perez and maintains the rigorous standards of sustainable farming practices required by the NFPD.

Jersey Farm Produce sells its fruits, flowers, vegetables, and plants year-round in GreenMarket farmers markets in New York City and New Jersey.  Perez needed a loan for working capital during the slow season in 2011 and UCEDC was happy to provide a $15,000 microloan.  Thanks to that support, operations continued without a hitch. Today, with the busy farmers market season in full-swing, Perez is putting in his typical 105-hour work week, aided by the addition of several new employees.

GrowNYC and its New Farmer Development Project is committed to helping immigrants bring their farming talents to full fruition in the region, while preserving small farms and bringing healthy food options to urban communities.  Every effort is made to reduce waste and maximize impact including donating unsold produce to City Harvest, a food rescue organization that delivers food to nearly 600 community food programs throughout NYC.  Perez estimates that at the height of the season he donates $400-$500 worth of left-over produce a day.

Business ownership, preserved farmland, locally grown healthy food options, and donated food for the hungry - a hard-won happy ending for a real-life entrepreneur.