Every day that we are on the job at the Greenhouse Education Center, we meet the most fascinating people who have incredible stories to tell. At the end of every work day, the team sits down together and writes our Daily Report, and this document has a section solely dedicated to highlighting these unique and inspiring individuals that we meet while travelling on the #GreenInTheCity tour. Our team has heard many times that we have a positive impact on the people that we speak to on a daily basis at the trailer, but it is my hope that, by sharing some of our own stories here, people understand that they have just as much of a positive impact on the GEC team.
So, without further ado, here’s what I like to call the “Highlights of the Highlights”!
From Sam’s Club in Mentor, Ohio:
I was speaking with a mother about how we use bumble bees to pollinate inside our greenhouses, and we made our way to the rear of the trailer to check out the bumble bee display. The woman lifted up her baby and let her look into the glass. The baby put her face up to the display and her eyes completely lit up – she was mesmerized by the bees! When her mom took her away from the glass, the baby started to cry, but as soon as we put a TOMZ tomato in her hand, she was immediately happy again. Cutest experience ever!
From Wegman’s in Syracuse, New York:
An elderly gentleman came up to the trailer and told me that he got his degree in Agriculture fifty years ago! He told me all about the industry, sharing that he has visited many countries in order to see first-hand how their industry and agricultural processes differed from what is found in the USA. He told me about a trip he took to Russia; this one was particularly intriguing. We moved on to a discussion about automation, corporate companies, and other social issues. His wife was waiting for him so he had to cut our interesting conversation short, but the GEC’s ability to spark such interesting discussion was definitely not lost on me.
From Heinen’s in Burlington, Illinois:
One of the days we were in Illinois it was extremely rainy, so we all went inside during the late afternoon to help with sampling. While we were inside, one of the Heinen’s employees came up to the sampling table and told us that she “geeked out” when we visited the store last year with the Greenhouse Education Center. She shared with us that she is an Urban Agriculture student and that she works in a greenhouse herself! We recommended that she look into submitting an application to work with the GEC next year – her enthusiasm and passion made her an excellent candidate in all of our eyes!
From Wegman’s in Rochester, New York:
There was a little girl who visited the trailer and said that she did not like tomatoes. However, after trying some of our TOMZ tomatoes in a sample, she completely changed her opinion – now she loves tomatoes! When her and her family were leaving the store, we spotted her carrying a TomBox FULL of TOMZ snacking tomatoes! We were able to get a great picture of her standing in front of the Greenhouse Education Center holding her TomBox with pride. Amazing!
From Heinen’s in Middleburg Heights, Ohio:
At the end of the day, we had a customer at the trailer whose energy completely blew us away! She was especially interested in watching us as we closed up the Greenhouse Education Center in order to get it back on the highway. We get questions about how we travel with the GEC all of the time – people are amazed by its mobility! We told this woman about how South Essex Fabricating, our sister company, created our one-of-a-kind trailer for us, and she watched in amazement as we closed it up for the day (in record time, I might add).
From Heinen’s in Brecksville, Ohio:
One of our first customers of the day absolutely fell in love with the trailer – “Big Bad Bob”, as he calls himself, was completely astounded by the Greenhouse Education Center! He took a photo with one of our team members, and proceeded to ask some great questions about our growing processes, products, and greenhouse facilities. After visiting us, Bob went into the store, bought his groceries, and came back outside. On his way out, he realized that he forgot to buy our tomatoes, so he went back into the store and bought our TOMZ and some Red Beefsteak tomatoes. We loved Big Bad Bob and his enthusiasm!
These are just a handful of the amazing experiences we have had at the trailer in the past month and a half on the road. There are dozens more stories that I wish I had time to share, but rest assured, the GEC team has been positively impacted by many amazing visitors in so many different cities and stores. It is extremely important to acknowledge that we would not be the Greenhouse Education Center without the people who take the time to visit us on-site. These are the people who make our job exciting, inspiring us to do our best and give it our all every day. So thank you to our visitors for letting us show you #HowWeGrow at NatureFresh Farms – we could not do it without you!
-Britt