Last updated on June 13th, 2024 at 05:05 pm
Grocery News In Brief…
The New Jersey Food Council (NJFC) is concerned about proposed minimum wage legislation after the Senate Labor Committee passed a bill increasing the wage in New Jersey by 79 percent to $15 an hour. NJFC President Linda Doherty said New Jersey’s food retail and distribution industry employs nearly 200,000 workers annually. This proposed 79 percent minimum wage increase is a drastic rise in labor costs that will result in the loss of food industry jobs and hours worked, and higher prices for New Jersey consumers. She said New Jersey’s food industry is shrinking and facing unprecedented competition from online retailers. Some food retailers have been unable to survive these industry challenges. “This forced increase will jeopardize new food retail investment and job growth, and will drastically raise prices for food and groceries for all New Jersey families,” said Doherty…
Johnson Memorial Hospital (JMH) in Stafford Spring, Connecticut, recently received a $12,000 donation from Big Y supermarkets’ “Partners of Hope” initiative to benefit the Johnson Memorial Cancer Center. The money was raised last October through a month-long campaign to promote breast cancer screenings, education and treatment. The funds will be used to directly support individualized patient services provided by the cancer program at JMH. This is the sixth donation to JMH through the Big Y program…
The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at New York’s Pace University has received a $400,000 grant from alumnus Rob Sands, president and CEO, and from Constellation Brands. The gift will sponsor a two-year pilot of a new Food and Beverage Law Clinic that will provide transactional legal services to farmers, community and grassroots groups, and mission-oriented food and beverage entrepreneurs.“Many businesses in the growing ‘farm to table’ economy start out in someone’s kitchen, backyard or even roof garden,” said David Yassky, dean of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law. “When these business grow, new legal issues emerge, and often these entrepreneurs can’t afford the legal help they need. Our clinic will fill that gap.”
