Legislature sends Murphy bills to name NJ’s official juice, mineral

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Legislation that would designate an official juice and mineral for the Garden State is heading to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk.

According to Assembly Bill 2271/Senate Bill 3442, naming cranberry juice as the state juice would be “a fitting and proper way” to “formally recognize the significance” of the fruit to New Jersey’s history, economy and culture.

Originally introduced in February 2020 – a month before the pandemic began – the proposal was inspired by fourth-graders in Cinnaminson Township who were studying New Jersey’s state symbols, noticed there was no state beverage, and pitched the idea of cranberry juice. 

The reintroduced measure, which was sponsored by Assemblymembers Carol Murphy, D-7th District, and Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, D-31st District, was approved Feb. 27 by the Assembly in a 75-1 vote. Companion legislation by state Sens. Troy Singleton, D-7th District, and Fred Madden, Jr., D-4th District, passed in a 35-1 vote May 22.

The bill’s sponsors anticipate that the governor will sign the measure.

Singleton told NJBIZ he first met fourth-graders in Erin Zarzycki’s class at Eleanor Rush Intermediate School three years ago and “was convincingly lobbied to introduce legislation making cranberry juice the official state drink.”

The students – who are now sixth-graders – “not only learned a practical civics lesson on the legislative process, but a life lesson about perseverance when trying to achieve goals. I am incredibly proud of them,” he said.

Thanks to Cinnaminson students, cranberry juice is well on its way to becoming our official state juice!@Troy4NJ7 pic.twitter.com/mqfBcl90J1

— NJ Senate Democrats (@NJSenDems) May 22, 2023

In the Garden State, the fruit predates the arrival of the first European settlers, as cranberries were a staple in the diets of Native Americans.

After commercial cranberry farming operations began in 1835 at a bog in Burlington County, New Jersey has gone on to become the fourth-largest cranberry producing state in the country.

New Jersey was also home to Elizabeth Lee, who, in 1912, was one of the first growers to create jellied cranberry sauce from the berries. She later went on to team up with other farmers to launch the company that became known as Ocean Spray, an agricultural cooperative owned by more than 700 farmer families.

Of the 29 other states in the U.S. that have adopted a beverage of choice, the majority (22) designated milk as the official drink.

A tribute to one county’s mining heritage

Under Assembly Bill 3393/Senate Bill 1727, franklinite, a mineral often found in the northwest portion of New Jersey but regarded as rare around the world, would become the official state mineral.

Sponsored by Assemblymembers Parker Space, R-24th District; Harold Wirths, R-24th District; and Kevin Rooney, R-40th District, the measure was approved May 25 in 73-0 vote.

The senate bill, which was introduced by state Sens. Edward Durr, R-3rd District, and Steven Oroho, R-24th District, passed in a 36-0 vote Oct. 17, 2022.

According to Space, locals in Sussex County have long pushed to get franklinite – a rock made up of zinc, iron and manganese – named as the official state mineral as a tribute to the area’s rich mining heritage.

Discovered in 1819 by a French geologist, franklinite is an important mineral that was mined at the Franklin and Sterling Hill mines and used in products ranging from sunblock to car tires, to cosmetics and brass. Its demand helped propel the area into a booming mining town for 60 years; however, after the ore was exhausted the two mines wound down active excavation between the 1950s and 1980s, according to the bill’s text.

Space said, “Franklinite is as unique to New Jersey as the Pine Barrens are and was the driving force behind the state’s thriving mining industry in the 19th and 20th centuries. The discovery and mining of this rare ore built Franklin. Its importance can’t be overstated.”

“The Sussex County area produced the most desirable zinc in the world in the 19th and 20th centuries,” Oroho said. “Over time, Franklinite has contributed fiscal benefits to the entire region. Thriving mining operations especially helped fuel the early development of the Borough of Franklin, often referred to as the Mineral Capital of the World, funding the construction of water, electric and other crucial infrastructure.”

Though no longer pulled from the local ground, brilliant, colorful specimens of franklinite remain favorites of world’s mineral hobbyists and collectors.

Franklin Mineral Museum and Sterling Hill Mining Museum remain popular tourist attractions in the state, especially for student class trips.