The Ultimate Market For NJ Foods?

The Better World Market in Somerset has the largest selection of Jersey-made food products I have ever seen under one roof—and I've shopped under a lot of Jersey roofs, not to mention under the sun at farmer's markets and roadside stands.

Better World Market in Somerset
Better World Market in Somerset
Photo by Pat Tanner

Even before I stepped inside Better World Market, newly opened on Route 27 near North Brunswick, I was favorably disposed towards it. I just wasn’t prepared for how much it would exceed my expectations.

The market-café is the newest enterprise of Elijah’s Promise, the New Brunswick non-profit that has been working since 1989 to end hunger and alleviate poverty. I have high regard for all their projects, from the soup kitchen that serves more than 100,000 meals a year to the culinary school that trains unskilled, under-employed people for careers in the food industry, including jobs at the school’s catering arm and pay-what-you-can café in Highland Park.

The market, currently open Thursdays through Sundays, offers prepared foods and baked goods from these kitchens (to eat in or take away).

it also features Jersey Fresh produce, eggs and pork from its next-door neighbor, Suydam Farms (as well as other Jersey farms) and stocks foodstuffs produced by Jersey-based food artisans, including coffee from Rojo’s Roastery of Lambertville and ketchup from First Fields in Montgomery.

I had anticipated a sort of indoor seasonal farmer’s market whose profits go to a good cause.
The market is all that, and more.

While some of the products are widely distributed—Griggstown Farm poultry and pot pies; Hoboken’s Joe Tea; those familiar red-and-white cans of Jersey Fresh crushed tomatoes—others are a little harder to find. For example…

–Beef from J. Vrola Meats (South Amboy)
–Old-timey sodas from Briar’s (North Brunswick)
–Jersey peach cider and barbecue sauce from Circle M Fruit Farms (Salem County)
Frank’s salsas and chutney (South Brunswick)
–Fresh flowers from Redwood Florist (New Brunswick)
–Coffee from OQ (Highland Park)
–Mustard from 3 Monkeys (Lawrenceville)
–Fresh baked goods and pretzels from KNEAD (Somerset)
–Fresh-scooped gelato and sorbetto from the local franchise of Pino Gelato (Hilton Head, SC)
–Sandwiches, salads, breads and sweet treats produced by the Elijah’s Promise kitchens
–Olive oils, sauces and imported dried pastas from industry giant Colavita, a long-time supporter of Elijah’s
       Promise, based in Edison.

Of special note are the handcrafted mole sauces and Latin spice blends from Corazon Kitchen, a training and employment partnership between Elijah’s Promise and Unity Square, an initiative of Catholic Charities in Metuchen.

The market supplements Jersey-made with top-drawer artisan comestibles from around the country.

To name just a few:

–Prosciutto from La Quercia, the award-winning Iowa cured meats producer
Meyenberg goat milk butter from California
Real (brand) salt, which is unbleached and unrefined
–Cans of certified sustainable, traceable tuna ($4.99) from American, a company owned by six fishing
       families.

All this in a large, bright space flooded with sunlight. Produce is artfully arranged in weathered wood carts topped with cheerful umbrellas.

The café’s tables and chairs face a long row of windows overlooking Suydam Farms, founded in 1713.

The café offers free WiFi, two small sofas flanking a large coffee table, and a corner full of toys.

Michelle Wilson, associate director of Elijah’s Promise, manages the market.

“We want to reach out," she says, "Starting in September, we’ll have a coffee hour with live music, and we’ll bring in art from local artists and schoolchildren.”

Wilson credits “a lot of volunteer work” and Elijah’s Promise’s executive director of four months, Jim Zullo, with bringing the market from vision to reality.

“The market supports our mission in several ways,” she says. Students at its Promise Culinary School and catering department prepare foods and also get retail experience by staffing the market. While profits help pay for meals at the soup kitchen, customers are invited to donate an extra $2.50 at checkout. That amount covers the cost of one meal at the soup kitchen.

The plan right now is to keep the market open through Thanksgiving and the holiday season. Better World Market might stay open longer, Wilson says, depending on community response.

BETTER WORLD CAFÉ
1743 Route 27 (at Skillman Lane)
Somerset
(732) 659-6905
betterworldmarket.org

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