#psuaged15 Internship: Jillian Gordon, Pittsburgh Food Policy Council

Many members of #psuaged15 have been spending their summer interning at agricultural businesses all across the state. Jillian Gordon (@jillianpsu) is the intern working with Enhancing Food Security in the Northeast through the Penn State Extension Office in Allegheny County.

Jillian Gordon, 2015 student teacher

This internship is allowing Jillian to work on various projects that each provides a unique experience. A lot of the emphasis is put on exploring the different community gardens, farmers markets and co-ops around the city as well as meeting the stake holders who are working to promote these businesses and projects. Jill added “I also work to revitalize our Pittsburgh Food Policy Council social media accounts and dabble in some research as well. Currently we are working on researching different extension restructuring plans at land grant universities across the country.”

This internship is funded by a larger research project that is working to track where the food in the Northeast comes from. More specifically they are looking at the grocer in the Beechview community in Pittsburgh to see what is being sold, in what quantities and at what price.  This information is then compared to other sites in the Northeast to monitor food security and understand exactly where the food is coming from.

This position has opened Jill’s mind and completely changed her outlook on agriculture as a whole. “In today’s modern world, agriculture is no longer just large farms producing food for our millions of people, agriculture is extremely diverse and has the potential to be understood and practiced by everyone in this country”

The internship has given Jillian real, hands on experience to what urban agriculture looks like which could beneficial to the grad position specializing in urban agriculture education that Jill has her eye on at the University of Georgia.

To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes a positive impact on the lives of students across the globe by becoming an agricultural educator, please contact the agricultural teacher education program at teachag@psu.edu. Follow us on Twitter at TeachAgPSU, on Facebook, or on our blog!

Laura Metrick

Student Blogger

2015 Student Teacher 

@Its_LauraBeth