Y'allstate

"Around here, its Y'allstate". The above sentence is Allstate insurance's effort to market themselves to people who driving through downtown Columbia, SC. South Carolinians have pride in who they are and where they came from. A marketing campaign that would work in Boston or New York, would almost certainly never work down here. Why am I telling you all this? This summer I have been immersed in marketing, South Carolina culture, and the sweltering humidity and heat that comes with it. More specifically, I've been interning with the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, taking summer classes, and racing throughout SC, GA, and NC. The following is a short synopsis of some of the things that I have been working on and have gotten to do so far. [The picture below was taken a few days ago when we filmed a commercial for the State Farmer's market]

Since my start date of May 24th, I have been learning about GAP certification, Farm to School, and the different facets of the department of agriculture. My first day in “the field” was going with regional coordinator Weatherly Thomas to check six Lexington County school gardens and distribute over two thousand Collard seeds to students and faculty. I also went to the State Farmer’s market to help Weatherly film a promotional piece about the market. It was a great opportunity to learn about the distributors and the GAP requirements that apply. Not all of the operations managers were willing to be in the video. The ones that were, however, had many great things to say about the SC Department of Agriculture and the market.

I've spent a lot of working on promotional material for the Farm to School program. One of them is a compilation of Certified SC farms that offer tours that will serve as a resource for school teachers. The brochure and webpage also include state parks and museums that pertain to agriculture. The second piece that I am working on is a brochure that highlights a farm from Berkeley County named Hickory Bluff that has had success with the GAP certification and selling to schools. Some of my time working on the brochures has been spent in the office and some of my time has been spent at home. I have enjoyed working with my fellow intern, Susan, in the office that we share. We have a lot in common and work well together.

So far, I've attended three meetings; the SC Food Safety Council meeting, the New and Beginning Farmers graduation, and the Farm to School Staff meeting. The SC Food Safety Council meeting consisted of about 45-50 representatives from corporations, government agencies, and schools. As soon as the meeting started, the meeting facilitator announced that we were all going to introduce ourselves. I must say, I was a little surprised. I was even more surprised when her eyes scanned the room and she picked me to be the first to explain who I was and what I was doing there. We saw a presentation by a food scientist from Clemson University, the School Food Safety director, and several others. The presentation by the School Food Safety director opened my eyes to the extensive coordination and precaution that goes into daily making sure that thousands of kids don’t get sick. After the meeting, I met several people from the Bi-Lo food safety group, USDA Aphis, DHEC, SCDA, and the Dept. of Education. It was interesting to me how each person had a different perspective on the our food system and how it operates.