G's Jams——农业中的女性

Some say that Sarah Grace Stone is a little crazy for the number of things she has on her plate. But Sarah Grace is just a young woman with ideas, 强烈的职业道德, 以及对农业的热情, 消费者, 和果酱.

首页 for Sarah Grace is a farm in Rowland, NC where her family grows row crops on 5,000 acres; additionally, 他们养猪和牛. They also grow produce that they sell directly to 消费者. It was at the produce stand, where an idea was born.

When a customer asked Sarah Grace’s grandmother if there were any other products they sold, her grandmother offered up a recipe for strawberry jam. It was then that Sarah Grace had the idea to make jam herself and sell it to customers. Using an old family recipe and strawberries from their farm, G’s Jams was born.

然而，它并没有就此停止. Sarah Grace has continued to expand her business, taking hold of every opportunity that comes her way. 目前, she offers pear honey (using pears in her grandmother’s yard), pepper jelly (using peppers from her garden), and blueberry jam (using fruit from an organic blueberry patch she managed). When she noticed a gap in the market place, she decided to offer a three-pack of her jams as corporate type gifts for businesses and organizations. She is also making jams for wedding favors this year.

She is doing all this while graduating college and starting a full-time job. 5月, Sarah Grace graduated with degrees in Agriculture Business Management with minors in Animal Science, 经济学, 和农业创业. 今年夏天, she will transition from part-time to full-time in her role as an undergraduate coordinator at NCSU. 在这个位置, she teaches professional development classes, 建议学生, 协调事件. 周末她做果酱. That’s almost a 2-hour commute with no traffic from Raleigh to Rowland.

“我都是自己做的. People call me crazy,” Sarah Grace said.

She says that the hardest part is juggling it all and knowing what to do next. Sarah Grace had a good idea of how to get started because of her 8-month internship with 卡罗莱纳农业信贷.

“I saw what it took to have a business and what the financial needs looked like,” she said. Sarah Grace took out a loan from her parents when she first started making jams in 2020. Taking what she learned at AgCarolina, 她提出了一种商业模式, 商业计划, cashflow…the whole nine yards to her parents when asking for the loan. She has since paid them back in full and continues to expand and evolve G’s Jams.

In addition to the business lessons, she received during her internship, Sarah Grace says that she also learned patience and to give people chances. “I learned the value of patience and how much that means to people you’re working with. I’m a very spitfire, full-throttle type of person. I learned the value of patience with customers but also with co-workers,” Sarah Grace shared of her time at AgCarolina. She added that because folks like Callie Copeland and Skipper Jones gave her a chance, she was able to learn and do so much! Those lessons helped her as she launched G’s Jams.

Sarah Grace continues to evolve her business and career and is excited for the future. She’s looking forward to the completion of a kitchen being built on the farm for her jam production. One day, she hopes to open a storefront where she can sell her jams and produce from her garden. Her dream is to work full-time on the farm, growing, making, and selling goods. Sarah Grace has a passion for the farm to fork movement.

“我喜欢讲我的故事. I feel like if I don’t have a seat at the table, then I’m on the menu,” Sarah Grace said.

She thinks that educating 消费者 where their food comes from and allowing them to see the process is important. One unique thing Sarah Grace has been able to do is talk about both organic and non-organic practices. The blueberry patch she managed for a local woman was organic. She had to learn how to farm organically and how to communicate those practices to the customer. 另一方面, her garden and strawberries are not organically grown, 但还是一样好.

“I’ve had to learn how to share about and appreciate both farming practices and the intentions behind them,” said Sarah Grace who shares that both are just as healthy and good with her 消费者.

Sarah Grace certainly has a full plate, but she’s been intentional about taking that plate to the table to connect with 消费者. What started as a strawberry jam recipe card has flourished into a full-blown business with big goals. We have a feeling G’s Jams is just getting started.