The Garden State. Change the name to.....

A recent FDU poll indicates that most New Jersey residents are happy with our motto, "The Garden State." That is fine by me. Still, I can recall riding through Cape May County in the 50's and seeing rows and rows of acres of furrows. New Jersey was home to Seabrook Farms. If you bought frozen foods in N.J., it likely was packaged by Seabrook. Wiki says Seabrook had even more acreage in Cumberland County.

"TheGarden State" made sense at that time. It no longer does. So, if you were to change the slogan, what would you choose and why?

Right now, I have no suggestions but I will think on it.


"We Stand Behind the Lady" 


I often refer to it as "My beloved Garden State".


"The Surprise State.

How many people have you met that express surprise when they come to N.J. and are surprised that it is has beautiful landscape... hills, mountains, farms, fields and the ocean.


How about: "The much nicer than you have been led to believe by TV and movie scripts State".

True story: I was in Ireland about five years ago and while pumping fuel into my rental car, a friendly local gentleman asked me what State I was from.

"New Jersey" I said. 

"Ooohh, The Sopranos!" he replied.

"There it is" I thought forlornly. "There it is".


We could call New Jersey "The Pharma State."

But I prefer The Garden State.

https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/about/overview.html

"Food and agriculture are New Jersey's third largest industry, behind pharmaceuticals and tourism, bringing in billions of dollars in revenue to the state.

In 2017, the state's more than 9,000 farms generated cash receipts of more than $1 billion. The nursery/greenhouse/sod industry remained the leading commodity group, followed by fruits and vegetables, field crops, equine, poultry and eggs and dairy.

Retaining productive, taxpaying farmland is critically important to all New Jersey residents since agriculture is the largest single source of the scenic vistas we all enjoy throughout the year. Productive farmland covers nearly 720,000 acres.

Farmers in the Garden State produce more than 100 different kinds of fruits and vegetables for consumers to enjoy either fresh or processed here in New Jersey and elsewhere in the Northeast, in Canada and in many countries around the world. Nationally, New Jersey is one of the top 10 producers of blueberries, cranberries, peaches, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, apples, spinach, squash, and asparagus.

In addition, growers also produced hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of specialty crops that added a unique flavor to the Garden State’s bounty. Vineyards, for example, are a growing segment of the industry, enabling the state’s 50 vintners to develop a wide variety of award-winning New Jersey wines.

Fish and seafood are also a valuable commodity with tons of bluefish, tilefish, flounder, hake, shellfish and other species harvested annually. With its catch sold here at home and in foreign markets around the world, the commercial fishing industry adds another $133 million to the value of agriculture in New Jersey."


Given that one of the great accomplishments to be accomplished in our state is the development of the world's greatest tomato hybrids, Garden State still works for me. 


ml1 said:

tomato hybrids

 Clamato being one of the most surprising.


How about, " A lot like California, only smaller state."    We got beaches, smaller mountains, and even the pinelands which sometimes have forest fires.   


ridski said:

ml1 said:

tomato hybrids

 Clamato being one of the most surprising.

 That's probably from the waters off of Artificial Island (actually its name).


RobertRoe said:

How about, " A lot like California, only smaller state."    We got beaches, smaller mountains, and even the pinelands which sometimes have forest fires.   

 "A lot like California, without the droughts, earthquakes, mudslides, ..."


nohero said:

 "A lot like California, without the droughts, earthquakes, mudslides, ..."

 Like California, but with direct access to a couple of real cities


I don’t understand why  the OP thinks that The Garden State no longer applies as he personally is a fan of driving through lushly green backroads for pleasure… cheese




ridski said:

ml1 said:

tomato hybrids

 Clamato being one of the most surprising.

 I thought Clamato was a Canadian thing.


I think Garden State is just fine!  (I just got back from the farmers market, which reinforces that opinion.)


For Good measure we should change the name of the PNC Center back to the Garden State Art Center


nohero said:

RobertRoe said:

How about, " A lot like California, only smaller state."    We got beaches, smaller mountains, and even the pinelands which sometimes have forest fires.   

 "A lot like California, without the droughts, earthquakes, mudslides, ..."

 I have a good friend in SoCal that I like to joke with about what we're ok with in our respective states if it means we don't have to deal with the really heavy stuff in the other.  And he was once telling me that he couldn't live someplace where people die from cold weather.  A few weeks later the Northridge earthquake left his home with some minor damage.  Because nobody got hurt and the damage was minimal I thought it was ok to tell him that I'd rather live someplace where I occasionally have to shovel snow out of my driveway than someplace where I might need to shovel my bedroom out of my living room.


21st Century Garden State -

About half an hour outside New York City is a warehouse full of crops, all growing in trays stacked one on top of the other. The Kearny, New Jersey, farm is part of Bowery Farming, the biggest “vertical farming” company in the United States.

Irving Fain is the CEO of Bowery, which he co-founded in 2015. He gave “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal a tour of Bowery’s research and development farm, which features six layers of crops growing under lights that mimic the sun.

Farms don't have to be outside anymore - Marketplace


ml1 said:

 I thought Clamato was a Canadian thing.

 Hell to the NO!  shock


Based on this thread, maybe we should be The Tomato State. 

Apparently Rutgers famously breeds tomatoes


metaphysician said:

ml1 said:

 I thought Clamato was a Canadian thing.

 Hell to the NO! 
shock

 hmmm....

Today is National Caesar Day! Everything you need to know about Canada's official drink


The 1,2, uh-1-2-3-4 State.


ml1 said:

metaphysician said:

ml1 said:

 I thought Clamato was a Canadian thing.

 Hell to the NO! 
shock

 hmmm....

Today is National Caesar Day! Everything you need to know about Canada's official drink

 Ya got me on this one. It kinda makes sense that it was invented in Calgary. For those who don’t know, Alberta is the Texas of Canada, complete with  cowboys, cattle and oil. 

I just never really believed that that mess of a concoction was an actual beverage; it always struck me as a steak marinade. 


metaphysician said:

ml1 said:

metaphysician said:

ml1 said:

 I thought Clamato was a Canadian thing.

 Hell to the NO! 
shock

 hmmm....

Today is National Caesar Day! Everything you need to know about Canada's official drink

 Ya got me on this one. It kinda makes sense that it was invented in Calgary. For those who don’t know, Alberta is the Texas of Canada, complete with  cowboys, cattle and oil. 

I just never really believed that that mess of a concoction was an actual beverage; it always struck me as a steak marinade. 

 I have to admit, I've always wondered whether the drink is something people really drink, or if it's more of an inside joke to Canadians.


ml1 said:

 I have to admit, I've always wondered whether the drink is something people really drink, or if it's more of an inside joke to Canadians.

 It's probably the first thing I saw in a Shoprite when I arrived here in 1998, picked up the can and asked "dafuq is this?"


ridski said:

ml1 said:

 I have to admit, I've always wondered whether the drink is something people really drink, or if it's more of an inside joke to Canadians.

 It's probably the first thing I saw in a Shoprite when I arrived here in 1998, picked up the can and asked "dafuq is this?"

 Clam broth used to be a thing around these parts.  

The History of the Clam Broth House in Hoboken

According to the Hudson Reporter, every customer that ate at the Clam Broth House in the 60s and 70s would walk into a floor chock full of clamshells from past customers, along with a vat that gave out free clam broth at the bar {yes, FREE!} — but kind of grody if we do say ourselves.


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