Quitting school to return to... vegetable garden
Having worked at a TV station and had a dream job, Ms. Hoang Thi Huyen (33 years old, Hanoi) is currently happy with her job as a vegetable seller.
For her, job-hopping is a choice and a choice. When starting a job, she always has the greatest determination; but every 2 years, when she looks back, she finds herself not satisfied with the path she is taking.
Ms. Huyen said: "Since I was a child, when I saw the Times editors on TV, I dreamed of being like them. The journey from a girl studying in a village school, living in the suburbs of Hanoi, passing the exam and working at a television station is a very arduous journey.
I left the small village to choose a somewhat luxurious job, but in the end I chose to leave to do a simple job with agricultural products. I think every job has its own beauty".
When she was working at a TV station, Ms. Huyen still remember as being able to print her first report at an organic vegetable farm on the hill. As a farmer's child, often following her mother in the fields, she finds it strange with natural farming methods: using organic fertilizers instead of chemicals and a drip-down irrigation system without having to carry a bowl of ordo to water vegetables like her mother in the past.
After that, she was given the opportunity to interact with many cooperative models for clean agriculture according to VietGAP standards, and meet many agricultural experts and farmers who are struggling with sustainable agricultural development in their homeland.
"It seems like this is my " Predestined fate" with agricultural products. At a time when I was confused and wanted to own my own project, I thought about the first vegetables. Because I grew up thanks to my mother's vegetable gardens," she confided.
Her decision to stick with vegetables was supported by the whole family. At first, without much capital and a choice of premises, she worked right at home with the help of the whole family. Her mother-in-law helps wrap vegetables and take care of her children. Husband takes advantage of early morning and weekends to deliver vegetables, and comes back every evening to help his wife build a customer service system.
Keep the word "clean" true for each bunch of vegetables
Vegetables and fruits depend a lot on the weather, easily withered or spoiled during transportation. Finding someone who is patient with each bunch of vegetables and not afraid of getting dirty is not easy.
With so many challenges, the more she did, the more Huyen found her small joys in each bunch of vegetables. She has had close relationships with customers. In response to that affection, she sets strictness in her own work.
Vegetable shops buy vegetables from farms that meet VietGAP/GlobalGAP standards or Organic TCVN/PGS in Hanoi, Moc Chau, Sa Pa... In particular, each type of vegetable has realistic images and notes to make it easy for customers to check the origin clearly.
Each farm that provides clean vegetables has a farming journal. Every month, Ms. Huyen or her colleagues will come to check periodically, especially close to the beginning of the season or near the harvest.
"After doing many jobs from education, television, media or vegetable making, each job has brought me positive values and very good experience," she said.
In the coming time, she plans to develop a phone application to make more effective farming diaries, farm experience activities for children, so that they understand more about vegetables, soil, and know how to appreciate food from a young age.
