Each semester, dozens of students venture out of the classroom to gain hands-on learning opportunities through internships. In these supervised opportunities, students learn how to create and implement transdisciplinary solutions for the public good in real world situations.
Name: Jillian Bluestein
Year: Senior
Major: Food System
Internship Location: Village Hydroponics
“Hydroponic farming was something that I was interested in, but I didn’t know of any places that were doing this sort of farming,” said Jillian Bluestein, a Senior Food Systems Major, of how she found her internship. An internet search of hydroponic technology in Burlington led her to learn about Village Hydroponics, the newest branch of The Peoples Farmstand and The Peoples Kitchen. These sister initiatives, as noted on their website, supply fresh, culturally-relevant produce and nourishing meals to Burlington's underserved communities. , the newest initiative launched in Spring 2024, utilizes hydroponic technology inside of a shipping container to grow fresh, nutrient-rich produce year-round in Vermont.
Jillian holds up some of the newest seedlings.
“When you think about normal soil farming to grow food, well, this is much more complex than anything I ever imagined,” said Bluestein, noting the challenges with how to best utilize space. In her role, Jillian has developed a crop plan and a system for growing from seed enough produce about 300 portions of produce each week. The portions are distributed to about 60 families to help them get fresh greens during the winter. Bluestein went on to explain that at any point there are four thousand culturally relevant plants growing at a time.
Jillian with executive director of Village Hydroponics, Nour El-Naboulsi, standing next to the shipping container that has been updated with hydroponic technology.
“For a Food System major, it’s cool to see sustainable agriculture in action. Everything is grown from seed and it’s cool to see it get full grown.”
Jillian looking at the roots of one of the plants that will be distributed to one of sixty families in the community.
Jillian plans to continue working with Village Hydroponics post-graduation if she can secure additional grant funding.