Unbeknownst to me, I have spent most of my life living inside and around the High Plains-Ogallala Aquifer. I grew up in Colorado close to Wyoming and moved to California to attend the Vanguard University of Southern California and graduate with a Communications: Cinema Arts degree. I spent many years in University running around with a camera, filming, and working alongside a local church on their videos. When I left California I was not sure where that degree took me because where I moved to in Colorado was not known for their video opportunities.
Eventually, I ended up moving with my family to Wheeler, Texas and started to build from the ground up. I currently work alongside the City of Wheeler in providing social media and website support for them and local businesses. This was a wonderful opportunity to stretch the knowledge I do have in regard to media production and marketing. Ogallala Commons reaches communities that are similar to the ones I work with which is in line with my passion for supporting local producers and business owners.
This internship will intel researching and updating lists of local food producers in the Red River Headwaters & Canadian River Foodsheds of the Texas Panhandle-Rolling Plains. This also includes gathering photos and conducting interviews to create social media content and blogs for a new website. This will require me to travel across the Panhandle area of Texas and meet new people who are providing quality food to our areas!
One of my goals is to find (5) five new food producers that are not already on the Ogallala Commons network. I also am aiming to create some form of social media content that has at least 75 likes in a 24-hour timeframe. Finally, I would like to create a link to the food producers collected to have a way to access each other for help, support, or sharing products. By the end of my internship, I am hoping to get a deeper understanding of food production in my area and start spreading the word about the Panhandle’s local foodshed.
