Alfredo’s Story

I started with Urban Roots in 2016 as a Conservation intern. I was excited but a little nervous since I didn’t know anyone. I learned a lot about native and invasive species, insects, and the basics of restoration and conservation work. One of the most fun and proud achievements of our work my first year was the pollinator garden we created for a library. There was a lot of hard work that we put into it and it was gratifying to see our work pay off. I also got to meet a lot of other interns, some from my school, and I’m still in touch with them today.

In my second year, I switched to Cook Fresh because I wanted to learn more about cooking and using kitchen equipment. Saba, our lead, made the program fun—she let us play music in the kitchen, introduced us to local chefs, and bought us snacks. The skills I learned stuck with me and even helped me land a restaurant job later. I was confident in things like knife skills, cooking, customer service, and teamwork, which made it easy to step into different roles.

When I was in college, I came back to Urban Roots as a part-time Market Garden Assistant. I helped with everything from setting up and maintaining gardens to harvesting and preparing produce for distribution. I also got to work with youth shifts and learned how to lead them. It was great being outdoors, working in the gardens, and connecting with the community. I was a part of growing and selling microgreens during this time as well. I learned a lot about business through this as I was a part of every step.

It was great being outdoors, working in the gardens, and connecting with the community.

Lastly, I became the Mobile Market Coordinator, where I picked up even more skills in leadership, marketing, Google Sheets, accounting, driving a trailer, sales, event planning, and much more. It was a cool experience to see myself improve in the position, as every year that passed I felt I did better at my job.

Alfredo (right) at the Urban Roots Market Stand selling springtime seed starters.

The most valuable seeds that Urban Roots and I have planted, grown, and harvested are:

• Leadership growth–confidence, initiative, teamwork
• Gaining new information and experiences, such as learning what conservation is and why it’s important, as well as learning about food deserts, food justice, and building community through food. 

-Alfredo, former Mobile Market Coordinator and youth intern, currently enrolled as a Center for Energy and Environment Intern/Standard Heat and Air Conditioning Intern