“Seed Your Future” Launches to Promote Hort Careers

Chris Beytes

Rather than just moan and complain that kids these days don’t want to work in horticulture, a group of 150 industry partners have come together to remedy the situation. They’ve pooled their resources and founded an initiative called “Seed Your Future” to “combat declining awareness of horticulture among U.S. audiences and promote horticulture as a vital and viable career path for the nation’s youth.”

Among those partners are lead partners Longwood Gardens and American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), which made the announcement March 3. But the partners include leaders in horticultural industries, horticultural associations, public gardens, public agencies, and K-12 and higher education.

How important is this effort? Very! In a recent survey, only 48% of adults aged 18 to 34 said they are familiar with horticulture, as compared with 65% of older adults. And, while the majority of respondents view horticulture as essential to food, water and the environment, only 26% strongly agree that horticulture is a diverse area of study that will lead to a fulfilling and respected career.

“At the intersection of science and art, horticulture is one of those fields whose value to society is not fully appreciated,” said Paul B. Redman, executive director of Longwood Gardens and co-chair of the Seed Your Future initiative. “Enrollment in horticulture programs has declined dramatically at a time when the need for graduates of these programs is more important than ever. As an industry, it’s imperative that we take action now to change the tide and shore up the next generation of leaders in this invaluable field.”

Seed Your Future involves a multi-phased, multi-year approach to tackling these challenges and is actively seeking additional industry involvement to advance its efforts to educate the general public—in particular educating students across middle school, high school and college, and their parents—about the diverse and critical roles horticulture professionals play in our daily lives. Targeted to launch publicly in 2017, the broader campaign will be rolled out across a five-year period.

To date, more than $750,000 of the initiative’s goal of $10 million has been raised, which has allowed for the completion of initial audience research and the development of the Seed Your Future website, promotional video and other collateral materials.

Recognizing the importance of the idea, Anna Ball signed on early.

“There have never been so many opportunities to join the field of horticulture as there are today, yet awareness of these opportunities is at an all-time low,” she says. “Seed Your Future will be the force we need to bring our industry back into balance, introduce young people to fulfilling careers and make sure horticulture—and the millions of people who depend on it—thrives well into the future.”

According to a 2015 employment outlook report from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Purdue University, a total of 35,400 U.S. students graduate each year with a bachelor’s degree or higher in agriculture-related fields—22,500 short of the 59,700 industry job openings available annually.

For more information on the Seed Your Future initiative and to get involved, visit the initiative’s new website at SeedYourFuture.org. GT