I’m Elisa, 29, I have a bachelor in psychology but over the years I have grown a passion for agriculture which has brought me to Denmark, to attend a 3-years course in organic production. During this course I have learnt about the negative sides of conventional and industrial food production but I have also had the chance to get a lot of practical knowledge from working as an intern in many different farms. Now that I have graduated I want to start a farming business that can represent an alternative, sustainable way of producing food: one that puts people and our surroundings as part of the bottom line in its balance sheet.
To make a profit out of a farming business is no easy task, I’ve had the chance to realise that. That’s why I have applied for the EYE program. A friend of mine talked to me about it and how useful of an experience it has been for her, so I have decided to do it myself. These first 15 days have already been a very positive and profitable time. There is a lot of value, I think, in working shoulder to shoulder with another, more experienced entrepreneur, being able to ask all the questions you have in your mind (also the uncomfortable ones, about money and legislations and how to deal with all of that) and to have access to all the knowledge they have developed in years of activity.
For now I have had the chance to see and use the tools they have for planning the season and for keeping records of yields, sales and expenses. Once I have become familiar with them I will have the job of planning for the next season of production, so that I will have a much easier time when I will have to plan for my own production. There is a great value in this I think, since planning is one of the most crucial tasks in agriculture, and I get the chance to not only do it in a real life setting, inside of an already working business, but also getting all the feedbacks of the Host Entrepreneur.
I think this can really be a head start for my future business, and I also have the feeling both me and HE are getting something out of this exchange, which makes it all the more enjoyable and balanced.