[BREAKING] NJ gets roasted over ‘nutty’ plan to make hazelnut the official state nut: ‘Why on earth?’

Giving the hazelnut its due in New Jersey is proving to be a tough nut to crack.

A proposal to designate the hazelnut as the official Garden State nut has received mixed reviews from lawmakers, some of whom are slamming the “stupid” plan because the nut has only been growing in the state for less than a decade.

However, those in favor argue that the name would be more of an “ode” to the research efforts focused on creating a vibrant hazelnut industry in the state decades after the nut was virtually wiped out by disease.

The state Assembly voted last week for legislation to make the designation official, but opponents were angry because hazelnuts have only been grown commercially in New Jersey since 2020, after a decades-long effort by farmers, researchers and lawmakers.

Assemblyman Sterley Stanley, the bill's author, called hazelnuts “a true scientific breakthrough that reinforces why we are known as the Garden State” during the legislative session, during which the bill passed the Assembly by a vote of 58-15, according to NJ.com.

“Why do we need a crazy state?” Assemblyman Brian Bergen asked during the session.

“This stupid, horrible, stupid, crazy, nutty legislation shouldn't even be put up for a vote today.” Other opponents, like Assemblywoman Aura K.

Dunn, asked whether the hazelnut is really worthy of standing next to tried-and-true Jersey agricultural staples like corn, tomatoes, peaches and blueberries, which have been New Jersey's official state fruit since 2004.

"Is the hazelnut really the proven nut?" he asked in the session.

Only a handful of hazelnuts, also known as hazelnuts, are native to New Jersey, and only 5% of commercial hazelnuts come from the United States.

Türkiye is by far the world's largest producer, producing around 70% of the world's supply.

Eastern hazelnut blight, a fungal disease that is lethal to commercially grown European hazelnut trees, has made much of the United States inhospitable to the nuts.

But a team of Rutgers researchers has been working to change that, and after more than 30 years released the state's first blight-resistant hazelnuts in 2020.

Thanks to their efforts, New Jersey is now the only state on the East Coast where farmers are growing Nutella's main ingredient, and some commercial operations have already begun.

"If we could find resistance to this disease...we could create a whole new industry," Rutgers associate professor of plant biology Thomas Molnar told NJ.com.

Molnar and other supporters of the bill believe that anointing the hazelnut as New Jersey's state nut could elevate the humble hazelnut to a viable and profitable cash crop in the state.

"We could spark, you know, a broader understanding of the issue and maybe more investment in the state," Molnar told the outlet.

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However, critics of the Assembly believe that the appointment is not all it is cracked up to be.

"It's not what we should be doing in Trenton in a voting session," Bergen told NJ.com.

"We should take care of the big issues that the state needs us to do."

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