Community Rotation –  Week 4 Journal

Dates of rotation: (Monday) December 18, 2017 – (Friday) December 22, 2017

Location: AeroFarms

Activities & Assignments:

Day 1 12/18 (9 am – 5 pm) 8 hours

• Social Media
  • Instagram – liking and commenting on posts
  • Twitter – liking posts
• Researched nutrition and health events around Northern NJ and NYC.
• Looked for contact information for potential muralists to paint AeroFarms building.
• Updated our competitive spreadsheet with new product introductions.
  • Bright Farms
    • Verify all their current products, the number of oz/product, and the cost/product in both the NJ and Chicago market.

Day 2 12/19 (8 am – 5 pm) 9 hours

• Demo at Jersey City
  • Happy Healthy Holiday Event (sponsored by Congressman Payne’s office)
    • Free groceries (milk, oatmeal, canned beans, canned chicken noodle soup, canned beef ravioli, canned tuna, peanut butter, jelly, and produce like onions, broccoli, and oranges).  These groceries were donated by Well Care Insurance Company to the government of Jersey City.
    • Besides the free groceries, there were tables by the Jersey City Department of Health and Human Services, Well Care, and Dream Greens.
    • Set up table for seniors to sample greens and learn all about AeroFarms.
• Delivered arugula, baby kale, pac choi, and baby ruby streaks to Marcus B&P restaurant.
  • Make sure manager signed invoice.
• Continued working on Bright Farms competitive spreadsheet.

Day 3 12/20 (8 am – 4 pm) 8 hours

• Social Media
  • Instagram – liking and commenting on posts
  • Twitter – liking posts
  • Facebook – look for articles/recipes to share on Dream Greens Facebook page
• Continued conducting competitive spreadsheet research.
• Farm stand promotion ideas.
  • How would you promote to community? Who would you reach out to? How would you reach out to them?
• Helped with farm stand
  • Helped set up and sell products to community members and employees.
  • Recorded sales in Excel spreadsheet.

Day 4 12/21 (9 am – 5 pm) 8 hours

• Competitive spreadsheet
  • Called 3 ShopRite stores in South Jersey (Flemington, Clinton, and Phillipsburg) to research prices of specific Bright Farms products.
  • Continued to research any new products that other competitors have released recently. (Checking website and Instagram)
• Researched nutrition & wellness events in Northern NJ and NYC that the marketing can attend since they are already making their schedule for 2018.
• Winter office lunch at Rome St.
  • Assisted with making Chicken Kale Caesar Salad for the entire AeroFarms team!
• Tour of the farm
  • Saw the room where seeds germinate, the growing towers, and where the greens are packaged.
• Social Media
  • Instagram – like and comment posts
  • Twitter – like posts
• Rome St. farm stand
  • Only for AeroFarms workers, not community members

Day 5 12/22 (9 am – 5 pm) 8 hours

• Social media
  • Instagram – liking and commenting posts
  • Twitter – liking posts
• Organic Certification Webinar
  • Took notes
• Worked on leafy greens presentation
• Farm stand project
• Updated competitor spreadsheet

Comments / Thoughts / Challenges:

• It was fascinating to see the growing towers and the differences between greens that are ready to be harvested and ones that still have a few days to grow.  Seeing the technology in person was very interesting and it showed that not only is AeroFarms an agricultural company, it is also a tech company as well since it merges science and technology to grow these crops.
• Researching new products was really tedious because some competitors had more than 50 kinds of products.
• I learned a great deal from the organic certification webinar. The process of applying for organic certification is very tedious.  It also requires constant improvements in all aspects of growing and processing.
• The event in Jersey City was the first time I have witnessed seniors being able to “shop” for groceries. They were enthusiastic and grateful for the assistance of the government of Jersey City.  Most of them were also knowledgeable about food labels and health claims because they were able to answer questions from the Department of Health and Human Services lecture.

Learning Objectives Met:

CRDN 2.6: Refer clients and patients to other professionals and services when needs are beyond individual scope of practice.

CRDN 2.11: Show cultural competence/sensitivity in interactions with clients, colleagues and staff.

CRDN 3.3: Demonstrate effective communications skills for clinical and customer services in a variety of formats and settings.

CRDN 3.4: Design, implement and evaluate presentations to a target audience.

CRDN 3.5: Develop nutrition education materials that are culturally and age appropriate and designed for the educational level of the audience.

CRDN 3.6: Use effective education and counseling skills to facilitate behavior change.

CRDN 3.7: Develop and deliver products, programs or services that promote consumer health, wellness and lifestyle management.

CRDN 3.8: Deliver respectful, science-based answers to client questions concerning emerging trends.

Total Clock Hours: 41 hours