Campaign attracts school leavers to food production industries

from NZGrower | July 2021

by Horticulture New Zealand

Need water storage? Think Vortex Bladders

CAMPAIGN ATTRACTS SCHOOL LEAVERS

TO FOOD PRODUCTION INDUSTRIES

Words by Hugh Chesterman

Julian Raine, from Oakland Dairies, explains how his milk vending machine works to Nelson high schoolers

More than 150 high school leavers now have a better understanding of careers in New Zealand’s food production industries, thanks to the Feed Your Future campaign.

“We’re really stoked with how the Feed Your Future series has gone. We had seven events from Whangarei to Invercargill, where we took high school students to visit successful and innovative primary sector businesses,” says GoHort manager, Emma Boase, who is in charge of the national network of Career Progression Managers working to attract people to the horticulture industry.

Feed Your Future is a collaborative career promotion series involving GoHort, GoDairy, Lincoln University and Massey University to encourage high school students to pursue careers in the food production industries

Feed Your Future is a collaborative career promotion series involving GoHort, GoDairy, Lincoln University and Massey University to encourage high school students to pursue careers in the food production industries. “We had more than 40 young professionals share at the events how they got to where they are in the industry,” says Emma. “Having role models to look up to, and being able to see the different pathways to where you can be in five years, is hugely important to school leavers. For those who don’t have a background in primary industries, these events have been really eye-opening to the opportunities available.

“We made sure to include students who hadn’t had experience or exposure to the primary industries, but were open to a career in the sector. We introduced them to people who had ‘been there and done that’, and could give them a taste of what it would be like working or studying in the primary industries.” Adam Shears, a Year 13 student at Mount Hutt College, found the event gave him insights into the opportunities in the industry that he otherwise wouldn’t have had.

Sarah de Bruin enjoys a new flavoured Juicy at Tasman Bay Foods The young professionals panel, led by Sarah de Bruin from AgFirst, share their stories about getting into the food industry with Nelson high schoolers

“It was a very cool event. I loved being able to speak with people who are in the sector and get a perspective of their lives through university and all the opportunities they took to become who and where they are today,” said Adam.

I loved being able to speak with people who are in the sector and get a perspective of their lives through university and all the opportunities they took to become who and where they are today

Sarah de Bruin, a Horticultural Consultant at AgFirst who spoke at the Motueka event, wished that this type of event was available when she was at school.

“If this sort of thing had been offered to me at high school, I would have been all over it,” said Sarah.

“My personal highlight was the young professional panel. It was very interesting listening to stories and advice from such a diverse set of experiences. “Overall, the students reacted well to the presentations. I think it opened their minds more to the many roles involved in primary industry supply chains and the different pathways everyone took to get where they are. A few of the students actually changed their minds about what they thought their pathway was, after hearing the different stories.”