Apprentice Spotlight: Sara Markowitz ’13

As a founding member of the Goddess Squad, Sara Markowitz is the rock of the farm team. She is always there to turn weeding or harvesting into a little bit of a competition (even if it’s just against yourself), but never turns down a good farm pun or motivational speech.

sara with a potato

As a Newville, PA native and Dickinson graduate, Sara Markowitz ’13 is committed to the local food systems of central Pennsylvania. However Sara’s involvement with the Dickinson College Farm did not start until last fall, when she moved back to the Carlisle area from Washington D.C.  While a student at Dickinson, Sara’s time was taken up with her double major in Middle East Studies and Religion, plus her active involvement in Student Senate, Hillel, and the Multi-Organizational Board (MOB). In the years after her graduation, Sara returned to school at American University to earn her M.A. in Environmental Policy.

market selfie
Sara with the summer market team.

The Apprentice position offered Sara an opportunity to gain more farming experience in a food system that is close to her home. On the farm, Sara co-leads the harvest crew every Monday and Thursday with Second-Year Apprentice Conor Leary. On Wednesdays, Sara immerses herself in the broader Carlisle community to manage the College Farm’s stand at Farmers on the Square. She is a familiar face behind the market stand, overseeing the pizza operations and working the veggie vending table. Working and living on the farm also gives Sara the opportunity to appreciate the natural beauty of the South Mountain region, which she cites as one of her favorite parts of working on the farm.

When Sara is not in the fields, she stays active in the community through her involvement with the local Democratic Party of Cumberland County. She also loves to cook, hike, sing, and play guitar and mandolin. Sara hopes to use this Apprenticeship position as a launching pad to help build a more resilient and sustainable local food system for Central Pennsylvania. She would love to have her own farm one day, but no matter where her life takes her, she knows that farming will be continue to be a part of it!

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