As fall begins, Fair Farms says goodbye to its summer intern, Susan Morrell, as she heads back for her senior year at the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU), where she will graduate with a degree in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology with an focus on sustainable food systems.
This summer, Susan participated in Fair Farms’ mission in various ways—helping manage social media, authoring a number of blogs, aiding in outreach events at farms and markets, and even exploring agricultural effects on water quality with the Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy.
Fair Farms is looking for a fall intern! Learn more here.
“I was so thrilled when Fair Farms gave me the opportunity to work with them this summer,” Susan said. “Through my studies, I recognized that I wanted to participate in educating consumers and increasing collaboration between all of the sectors involved in the food industry, so it was a fantastic experience to work with a campaign that is doing exactly that.”
Susan began pursuing sustainable agriculture when she recognized it was a field that combined many things she is passionate about: service, conservation, biology, and culinary arts. She came to this realization after analyzing the food industry through an independent research course at CU and educating hrself on the industry’s environmental and social impacts. It wasn’t long before Susan became devoted to restructuring the food industry to create one that is environmentally conscious, accessible, and prosperous. That same semester, she was touring culinary institutes and even flirting with the idea of leaving school to open a sustainable restaurant.
Since then, Susan has since explored the industry from a variety of angles. She became involved with Boulder Food Rescue, a zero-emission food redistribution program, and attended conferences to learn about food deserts in Denver. She spent time working on an organic produce and livestock farm. She traveled to New Zealand to participate in fisheries ecology labs and take consumer psychology courses in her semester abroad. At CU, Susan designed and implemented a food education series and conducted research on an audience of over 600 undergraduates for her Healthy Food fellowship with Net Impact.
Susan says her most recent venture with Fair Farms has also been a great experience.
“I have learned so much about Maryland agriculture, all levels of policy, campaign management, and conservation efforts this summer,” she told us. “Reading articles and writing blogs every week kept me in touch with food problems and solutions on the state, national and global stage. Anyone who is searching for an internship that gives them practical experience with anything from communications to research to scientific applications would think themselves lucky to participate in Fair Farms’ mission!”
In the future, Susan envisions a food industry that supports a diversity of producers, is harmonious with the environment, and emphasizes community. She hopes to be a liaison between businesses, consumers, growers, and policy makers to bring this vision to fruition. She doesn’t believe she’ll ever become bored working towards this goal.
“What fascinates me most about the food industry is that there are so many facets to it; food is historic and cultural, social, environmental, and much more,” she noted. “It’s timeless, yet constantly evolving. You can never get bored studying it, especially as it reaches all corners of the globe. All people, regardless of location or demographics, participate in this industry and face similar issues, so I find it really interesting to learn about novel solutions abroad and think about how we can utilize them here.”
Fair Farms wishes the best of luck to Susan as she finishes her degree!
Learn more about interning at Fair Farms here.