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Somerset County proclaims April Housing Month, recognizes National Nutrition Month and National Agriculture Day
Summary
The Somerset County Board of County Commissioners issued proclamations recognizing April 2026 as Housing Month, March as National Nutrition Month and March 27 as National Agriculture Day, thanked local housing and food-access partners, and highlighted county outreach and preservation programs.
The Somerset County Board of County Commissioners on March 27 read proclamations recognizing April 2026 as Housing Month, March 2026 as National Nutrition Month and March 27, 2026, as National Agriculture Day, and heard brief remarks from local housing, nutrition and agriculture partners.
The board read a housing proclamation that cites the 1968 Fair Housing Act and calls attention to local nonprofit and county efforts to promote fair and affordable housing. A county official said the proclamation recognizes “safe, affordable, and habitable housing” as foundational for stability and security in Somerset County.
Susie Suter, program manager at Central Jersey Housing, thanked the commissioners and the county for their ongoing assistance, saying the agency could not provide its housing resources to county residents without that support. “If it wasn't for all of you, we would not be able to provide all of the housing resources that we do to all the residents of Somerset County,” Suter said.
On nutrition, the board noted the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics established National Nutrition Month and cited Feeding America’s 2024 meal-gap figures, which the proclamation text summarized as nearly 1,100,000 New Jersey residents (about one in nine) facing food insecurity and more than 270,000 children (about one in seven) affected. The proclamation also described county efforts to embed human-service navigators in local food banks to help residents access SNAP and WIC and to strengthen pathways to longer-term food security.
Local food-bank and pantry representatives thanked the county for its partnership and emphasized disparities in food insecurity. One speaker said, “Please keep in mind that 1 out of 4 black and brown households are food insecure,” underscoring a focus on equity in county outreach.
For National Agriculture Day, the board highlighted the Somerset County Agricultural Development Board’s work since its 1983 founding and noted the county has preserved farmland for more than four decades. Agricultural board representatives described outreach plans including a story map and educational materials that will be available through county libraries and web resources.
The board adjourned the proclamation portion after brief remarks and community acknowledgments; no formal policy action followed the proclamations.
