Volunteer at a farm in NJ to harvest blueberries for food insecure families

A New Jersey farm has been faced with a case of "no good deed goes unpunished" as its donation of organic fruit has been twisted into a viral misinformation post on social media.

The challenge is that the produce — up to 20,000 pounds of fruit — needs to be picked in time to make it to food-insecure households.

New Jersey Shore area food bank, Fulfill has been seeking volunteers to help harvest the donated organic blueberries.

Blindsiding both the food bank and farm owners, some social media posts have used an edited flyer to spread false rumors about the need for harvesting help this year.

Fulfill Food Bank in Neptune is getting a blueberry donation (Google Maps)

NJ farm donating berries deals with social media misinformation

There have been numerous social media comments from people assuming that the situation is a result of migrant worker shortages, caused by sweeps of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents picking up individuals for detainment.

A flyer used as a backdrop in Instagram and Reddit posts shows several edits to the food bank’s request for volunteers, making it appear as a specific call to healthcare workers.

Modifications to the original post, then shared by influencers including D.L. Hugley, include a headline with a double exclamation point that says “Great Clinical Ladder Opportunity!!”

NJ farm does 'everything by the book,' upset with fake rumors

Such false rumors have left farm co-founder, Tiffany Bohlin, near speechless and very upset in a conversation with New Jersey 101.5.

"Indigo Farms of NJ is a regenerative organic blueberry farm in the State of NJ in its ninth harvest season, it is imperative to prune plants based on our growing method," Bohlin said in a written statement on Monday.

"To be clear, our farm utilizes the federal program, H2A to source labor and have not been impacted by migrant labor shortages whatsoever," Bohlin said, adding the farm does everything "by the book" and is a proud participant in the federal program that allows for legal seasonal hiring of American workers.

Indigo Farms produces blueberries under the Blue Forests brand at its facility in the Forked River area of Lacey.

NJ organic farm donates berries to local food bank

The need for food help has spiked in just a year in New Jersey — up 79% since last summer along the Shore region, according to Fulfill.

Recognizing that dire situation, the Ocean County farm has donated a windfall of organically grown blueberries this year to the food bank.

"We are proud to support Fulfill of Monmouth and Ocean County, helping families in our community is important to our organization," Tiffany Bohlin said.

Bohlin and her sons had the idea to help locals in a pruning year, as plants are trimmed back every 8 to 10 years, for maximum crop health.

“Realistically, it's a combination of market pricing, necessary pruning timing that has pushed us in the direction of being focused towards volunteering/donations this year as opposed to a commercial harvest,” Director of Operations Brian Bohlin said in an email to New Jersey 101.5.

Blue Forests has made a point of high-density farming, according to the brand website.

While conventional blueberry farms grow around 1,300 plants per acre, this operation cultivates well more than double that — about 4,000 plants per acre.

This approach allows for more space for wilderness alongside crops.

The organic farm also uses drip irrigation, which reduces its water consumption by 50% compared to conventional farms.

Volunteers can still sign up to help get organic (typically more expensive) blueberries into the hands of New Jersey households in need this summer.