Urban farming: Local interns flock to farms
Forget photocopying and coffee runs.
New York college students are leaving the office behind and getting their hands dirty at summer internships at urban farms throughout the city. And they don’t miss the air conditioning.
They are turning out in increasingly greater numbers. Last summer, Brooklyn Grange farm had two interns. Today, more than 15 are sharing working shifts.
On-the-job learning has always been a part of a young farmer’s development. But only recently have those farmers emerged from urban areas, and from non-agricultural university programs.
“It’s a skill a lot of people haven’t been learning, but it’s a skill that’s … part of the past of humankind. I think it’s positive that there’s a little bit of a resurgence in interest,” says Brooklyn Grange founder Ben Flanner.
Now the question is, how you gonna keep ‘em off the farm?
When Flanner decided to start a farm on the roof of a Long Island City warehouse last summer, Hester Griffin, 20, an incoming senior pursuing an environmental studies degree at the New School, was the first to volunteer her services.
Now, lush beds cover the 40,000-square-foot space, and Griffin spends two days every week watering plants, turning compost and taking care of the chickens. She also works at Grange’s farmer’s market, which is set up in the lobby of the building.
For Griffin, it was the best way of learning an industry she one day hopes to enter.
“A lot of people are really surprised by it and don’t take it seriously as a possible career plan, because it’s new,” she says.
Hester Griffin at Brooklyn Grange, a rooftop garden. (Andrew Theodorakis/News)
But working on a farm is not just fun and games.
The job is far from predictable. Griffin is expected to rise to any challenge, from installing beehives to building chicken coops. The workday is long – she arrives at 9 and leaves at 7- and involves lots of bending, lifting and sweating in the summer heat.
“I definitely had to get used to the physical work. I’ve never done as much physical work as I’m doing here,” she says.
The worst part? The commute.
It takes between an hour and two and a half hours to get from her family’s home in Montclair, N.J., to Queens by bus. Still, she wouldn’t trade it for an office job closer to home.
“All school year I’m on the computer doing homework and studying, so it’s good during the summer to get out and be active and be outside,” she says.
Plus, there’s nothing like the feeling at the end of the day of farming.
“It’s very satisfying,” she says. “It feels good, like you’ve been on a run.”
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