“The industry’s connections with college and high school students are essential to the industry’s growth.”

“Covid-19 has made students more interested in plants and plant-based careers. It’s really cool to see students realize that there is marketing and communications in this industry and how diverse it is. However, we realize that here in the United States, people are still not aware of all the automation, logistics, marketing and technology involved in this industry. We are highlighting the diversity and international nature of the industry to make students, parents and teachers aware of the opportunities this sector has to offer,” states Jazmin Albarran, Executive Director at Seed Your Future. In this article, he talks more about the origins of Seed Your Future and the initiatives undertaken by the organization to solve the problem of labor shortages in the horticultural sector.

Jazmin Albarran, Executive Director of Seed Your Future

Professors’ initiative
Concerned about labor shortages in the horticulture industry, horticulture professors in the US were looking for a way to help the industry. To do this, they conducted a study in which they contacted industry professionals, students and the public to gain greater insight into the labor shortage problem. One of the recurring effects of this industry is that students and their parents have little knowledge of the horticultural industry. Moreover, their negative perception of the industry is one of the main factors preventing young people from starting a career in the horticultural industry. Research by horticulture professors led to the founding of Seed Your Future in 2014. “Unlike other organizations, we cover all types of sectors within the wider horticulture industry, including careers in floriculture, landscape and administration,” adds Jazmin.

Information center supported by industry partners
Seed Your Future aims to be a hub where students, parents and teachers can find more information about a career in horticulture. To this end, the Seed Your Future website lists 140 careers and accompanying job profiles. Job profiles include detailed information about the education/training needed for a specific career, salary expectations, examples of professional organizations, and videos and references. The website also contains information about internships and scholarships.

Plant your future at the annual convention of the Society of American Florists

To make the horticultural sector more attractive to younger generations, Seed Your Future has partnered with industry partners, Jazmin comments: “We need the help of partners to engage with the younger generation. Not only because we are a nonprofit organization, but also because the industry’s connections with college and high school students are essential to the industry’s growth. The more students are aware of what you do and how you do it, the more likely they are to come to you for a job, for which we have partnered with the Society of American Florists (SAF) for three years to connect students with the floral industry. Someone needs to make students aware of career opportunities in the flower and horticultural sectors. That’s why we’re organizing Green Careers Week, a week to help horticulture companies build relationships with educational organizations.”

Impression from Green Career Week

For educators, the organization also offers prepared lessons that can be downloaded for free, a careers test for students, and a YouTube channel with videos about gardening careers that they can display in the classroom. Seed Your Feature also organizes school trips and classroom presentations. Additionally, there is a Seed to STEM professional development program for high school teachers: “With this immersive experience, we want to make it easier for teachers to guide students in their careers. We will show them around various gardening companies and each teacher will create a lesson based on this. We commit to doing this for at least three years. This program is one of the results of cooperation with our partners, otherwise we would not be able to administer this program for $125. – explains Jazmin. The program will be implemented on June 2-6, 2024.

Constant development
Jazmin gives some insight into what careers students are interested in, saying, “Students really like jobs related to IT, but also jobs related to business and logistics. I was actually surprised by how much more enthusiastic they are about working in the plants when they realize their job involves travel. We are also finding that young people are really interested in sustainability because they realize that plants can be a solution to climate change and its challenges.”

He concludes: “In the fall, we will begin a research project aimed at understanding the factors that make an internship valuable to students. We expect that the results of this study will provide us with tools that will help the industry create interesting partnerships. The research will focus on the US, but I think this information will be of great value to other countries as well. I believe that labor shortages in the horticultural industry are an almost global phenomenon, but students and parents are not aware of such possibilities. In this regard, I would like to mention that our teaching materials and services can be equally used by teachers and companies outside the US.

For more information:
Plant your future
www.seedyourfuture.org