Rows of sunflowers, herbs and young tomato plants stretched across Fairgrown Farm on Monday as farmers, legislators, state officials and community leaders walked through the fields together.
The farm tour marked the close of what organizers said was the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s first Pride event — a gathering that brought together members of New Jersey’s agricultural community to talk about representation, belonging and the importance of creating workplaces where people can be themselves.
After the morning’s panel discussion, visitors followed Fairgrown co-owner James Klett through the farm’s production fields, packing house and community-supported agriculture (CSA) pickup area, learning how produce grown at Fairgrown and neighboring farms makes its way to families, schools and food pantries throughout the region.
For Klett, the event represented something larger than Pride Month.
“What was uniquely great about this were the leaders that we had present,” Klett said. “This was a state function with legislators there… it really kind of brought attention to it in a different sort of way. That was special.”
Among those attending were New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Ed Wengryn, Assemblywoman Andrea Katz, who serves on the Assembly Agriculture, Food Security and Natural Resources Committee, Trenton City Councilwoman Jennifer Williams, representatives of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and leaders from organizations across the state’s agricultural community.
Building a Place Where People Can Be Themselves
Although Pride provided the reason for gathering, many conversations centered on something broader: authenticity.
Wengryn said the event reflected an agricultural community that is often more welcoming than people assume.
“It’s not a matter of being in people’s faces,” Wengryn said. “It’s just being your true, honest self and how you perform your work, how you run your business… If you’re hiding something, then you’re not being yourself. People get that vibe, and that’s where the distrust comes from.”
He said agriculture succeeds because of relationships built on trust.
“We have to keep the conversation going and keep the openness going,” Wengryn said. “Agriculture is a safe community.”
Klett said those same principles have shaped Fairgrown since its beginning.
“I want this company to be a safe place for all people,” he said. “There are a lot of people with very differing opinions, and I want them to feel safe working.”
Rather than asking employees to share the same perspectives, he said his goal is to create a workplace where people are respected for the work they do and are comfortable being themselves.
More Than One Farm
As the group walked through the fields, Klett described Fairgrown’s cooperative approach to agriculture.
Unlike a traditional CSA that relies solely on one farm’s harvest, Fairgrown supplements its own produce with vegetables and fruit from partner farms across New Jersey and the surrounding region. The model allows members to receive a wider variety of produce while helping smaller farms reach customers they otherwise might not.
The tour stopped at the packing house, where produce is sorted and assembled into weekly CSA shares before heading to pickup locations, schools and food access programs throughout the area.
Klett also described the farm’s growing educational mission, welcoming school groups, corporate volunteers and community organizations to learn how local agriculture works.
“Our big goal here is to be that ambassador farm,” he said. “That place that’s very friendly to people who are just getting an introduction to agriculture.”
Growing Together
For Katz, Monday’s event demonstrated how agriculture has evolved.
She said what struck her wasn’t simply the Pride event itself, but how naturally it fit within the farming community.
“I talk to a lot of farmers,” Katz said. “At no point has anybody picked up the phone and been like, ‘What the heck?'”
Instead, she described agriculture as a community built on collaboration.
“We’re going to help and figure out how to do great things together for farming,” she said. “So it just feels very natural but also remarkable that we are here.”
That spirit of cooperation surfaced repeatedly throughout the morning.
While touring the farm, conversations moved easily from irrigation systems and crop rotations to food security, farm-to-school partnerships and ways farms can better connect with families across New Jersey.
Wengryn pointed to Fairgrown’s work helping smaller farms bring their products to market as an example of agriculture’s collaborative culture.
“They’re not worried about anyone’s sexuality,” Wengryn said of farmers who work with Fairgrown. “They’re worried about, ‘Can you help me get my product to market?'”
A Day That Extended Beyond Pride
As the morning ended, visitors filtered back toward the tents set up with rainbow cookies after walking through fields filled with young vegetables, herbs and flowers.
For Klett, that final tour reflected exactly what he hoped people would take away from the day.
“Yes, we got together today to talk through Pride and share stories,” he said. “But there was a lot of other productive things that were done for the benefit of the state of New Jersey.”
He pointed to conversations about food security, farm-to-school programs and strengthening connections between farms, policymakers, and communities.
“They’re all really about human dignity and wellness in all sorts of different ways,” Klett said. “It’s just so cool to me that as a farmer I get to be involved in those things.”
