The Hudson Valley Farm Hub is pleased to announce that Amy Wu has joined the Farm Hub as communications manager. We recently caught up with Amy to learn more about her passion for writing and agriculture and how she came to the Farm Hub.
Can you tell us a bit about your background, and how you ended up in the agriculture industry?
I am a first-generation Chinese-American and a native New Yorker. My father is a scientist and professor, but beyond him being a cook in his younger days (he cooked his way through McGill University), I don’t come with a family history in farming. My background is in journalism and I spent 24 years as a professional journalist at newspapers, magazines and websites. I have reported on everything from Woodstock ’94 to mergers and acquisitions on Wall Street.
I fell into writing about agriculture and agtech when I moved to Salinas, Calif. in 2015 to work for The Salinas Californian as a senior reporter. Agriculture is a $9 billion industry in the Salinas Valley and 80 percent of the country’s leafy greens are grown in Salinas. I ended up writing many of these stories for The Californian, and for “From Farms to Incubators” my grant-funded multimedia project that uses documentary to tell the stories of minority women entrepreneurs in agtech. The agriculture sector is rich in the Hudson Valley and there is much opportunity and potential in telling the individual stories of the growers, production staff and the innovation and research behind the stories.
What do you love most about writing about agriculture?
I love that there are so many ways to tell stories, especially with new technologies and digital tools such as the smartphone, video, documentary and social media channels. Moreover, it is an exciting time to be telling stories about the agriculture sector. Agriculture and food are increasingly making national and international headlines with topics such as climate change, food safety and rising interest in buy local and grow local. I find the people-including the growers, production staff, the researchers and scientists, some of the most smart and interesting people to interact with.
What is your favorite part of the job?
In many ways the Farm Hub is a living and evolving classroom and an incubator for research, education and innovation. No one day is ever the same and I love that! I learn something new every day. I enjoy working and interacting with fellow staff members, each who comes with their expertise and knowledge. One day I might be observing winter production in our greenhouses, and the next day I might be conducting bird walks with our farmscape ecology coordinator. I love that I am able to combine my passions for telling stories and agriculture.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I am an avid swimmer and swim weekly with a local master’s swim team and I also enjoy swimming in open water. I was part of a relay team that swam around Manhattan in 2010. I love eating and trying new kinds of dishes and cuisines and enjoy exploring the outdoors in this region.
What do you like most about the Hudson Valley?
The natural beauty, the people, the four seasons, the constellation of education, research, innovation and some of the best food is here.