Hi there! My name is Paige and I'm one of GCGs two Business Development Interns for the spring. I'm a fair weather farmer, an on-again, off-again student, and a latte master at a cafe in Cambridge. My agricultural education started two and a half years ago when I was sitting in a lecture hall during my first year of college learning about apple orchards on the Nova Scotian coast. I've always had a vested interest in the environment, but up until that point I'd never considered farming as a career choice for myself. Fast forward to a few years later, a WWOOFing stint, and a six month intensive apprenticeship and now I can't see myself doing anything else with my life. I've been following GCG for about a year now and I'm so thrilled that I'm able to work with them. I wish that I'd had the type of services that GCG provides when I was growing up!
Green City Growers combines the three things that I love the most: food, growing food, and the city of Boston. As a farmer with a love of the urban environment it's been difficult for me to find work in my field in a location where I actually want to reside. My WWOOF experience and my summer apprenticeship both had me in extremely remote areas where the bovine and sheep population far surpassed the human one and I was at least 10 miles from any town with more than a corner store and a grange. This office is a mile from my apartment and steps from Union Square. It's a welcome change and an amazing opportunity to do what I love to do within the community that I love so much. This is such a great area with so many opportunities for growth and change and I want to be a part of its move towards a greener future.
This internship takes me away from my roots in farming and lets me see the business side of it all - an opportunity that is invaluable (and totally new) to me. I'm excited to learn as much as I can about the inner workings of a business and how to run an agricultural company within city limits. I learn by actively doing and this position is going to teach me so much about marketing, social media outreach, and interpersonal skills. So far I've been researching current and prospective clients and familiarizing myself with the projects and services that we offer. I'm looking forward to taking on more responsibility in the upcoming weeks, start outreach, and checking out our events (like the upcoming Urban Agriculture course)!
