As the school year is getting ready to start, our interns have had a busy summer with different projects, educational events, job shadows, and a service event! Each year the interns get to participate in a service event to give back to the community. This year they visited the Michigan State University Student Organic Farm to strap on their harvest gear and learn about an organic operation.
The MSU Student Organic Farm focuses on giving students the opportunity to work in agriculture and provide the community access to fresh produce. The farm hires students primarily, and oftentimes has many different classes of MSU students who volunteer on the farm. The farm serves not only to provide fresh produce to the community, but as an educational opportunity to all those who visit.
While visiting, the interns were able to help in the fields! They spent the time harvesting green and purple beans the farm is growing for their shareholders. The farm manager walked through how to identify which beans to harvest and which rows to harvest. These beans went directly from farm to fork through the farm’s shareholder program. This program allows community members and students to buy into the farm in the winter months and then in the summer they receive weekly produce.
After a friendly competition to see which intern could harvest the most beans, the group got to tour the farm and learn all about the organic operation and their customers. The MSU Student Organic Farm is the only organic farm on MSU’s campus and has 15 acres certified organic. The farm offers a community supported agriculture (CSA) share model for community members, and a discounted price for students who want weekly produce. While doing the CSA, the farm also sells wholesale to MSU campus dining, the Allen Neighborhood Center, and others.
The farm utilizes many different practices because of their inability to use traditional fertilizers and pesticides. For soil health, the farm primarily focuses on crop rotation and the use of cover crops that has the nutrients the soil currently lacks. The farm gets creative with their pest management, using plants and hoop houses to deter pests and keep the “easy to damage” plants safe.
After learning more about the processes and practices the Student Organic Farm follows, John Welp, Legal Intern shared, “I didn't realize the lengths you had to go to be an officially organic farm. The preventative and sanitary measures taken were very impressive.”
The interns ended their day at the farm by meeting the farm cat Trout and rounding out any last questions. The interns had great weather and experiences learning and harvesting with the staff at the Student Organic Farm.
Reflecting on her experience, Allie Blanchard, Crop Insurance Intern noted, “My favorite part of the farm visit was seeing the variety of organic crops they grow and learning about the different practices they use. I also enjoyed hand harvesting crops!”
GreenStone values giving our interns real world experiences, especially in agriculture. To learn more about our internships and internship program, check out our website! Internships (greenstonefcs.com)
