Strolling of the Heifers is teaming up with VT Technical College to present the 2013 Vermont Farm/Food Business Plan Competition. The competition “seeks to encourage business formation and growth throughout Vermont by helping business owners and prospective entrepreneurs develop viable business plans, gain public attention, and earn financial rewards.” College students may enter under the Student business category, with a first place prize of $4,000, second place $2,000, and runners-up $1,000. For eligibility, general information, and a timeline for contestants visit the contest website. The first deadline is February 5th, by which time contestants should register using the online form. Also on February 5th, contestants must attend a business prospectus workshop from 4pm-6pm (held at multiple locations across Vermont). Check it out! You might have the best plan.

As a FoodCorps service member, participants will teach children about what healthy food is and where it comes from, build and tend school gardens, bring quality local food into public school cafeterias. FoodCorps is seeking up to 130 young adults to serve around the country for the 2013-2014 school year. The application is open through March 24th.

Have questions about the recruitment process? Get answers.

You can also find out more via informational conference calls. The next call will be February 13, at 5 pm ET (2 pm PT).

“It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and the hunger for it… and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied…it is all one,” wrote M.F.K. Fisher in The Art of Eating.

We all love food, but wow – M.F.K. Fisher really loved food. Her writing dwells heavily on its nurturing power, its ability to heal, sustain, and unite – physically and spiritually. During the 1930s, when Fisher began writing, the food justice movement was almost nonexistent. Today, food justice, a variety of initiatives that aim to increase access to nutritious and sustainable food, is thriving. If you share Fisher’s passion, there are so many paths to make a career out of food – beyond the kitchen.

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“In Their Own Words” is an ongoing series featuring the experiences of Middlebury students at their summer internships. This summer Ellery Berk ’14 interned with Gardens for Health International in Kigali, Rwanda.   

What did you do?

For the month of June, I interned with Gardens for Health International as a communications intern, conducting interviews, collecting media and writing blogs. Gardens for Health  is an agricultural NGO that partners with Rwandan health centers to equip families facing malnutrition with the knowledge and resources for greater self-sufficiency.

What did you learn?

Through Gardens for Health, I learned anew the values of self-sufficiency and community, and I have great expectations for our partnership moving forward. I learned that it is very important to be flexible.

What are your plans for the future?

My interest in development and global health remains strong; however, I realize that my place in the field likely does not lie in a small grassroots organization. While in Rwanda, I found that the most effective work Gardens for Health did was completed by Rwandans themselves. Expat staffers provided programmatic and technical support for Rwandan staff members, but little else. From this experience, I’ve learned that if I want to continue in the global health and development field, I should probably work with larger organizations, like Oxfam or the UN, and I should get an MPP and MBA.

Think this experience sounded pretty cool? Check out opportunities like this and more on MOJO.

There will be tasty, local snacks.

    Every wonder what it would be like if Middlebury had a Food Studies Program?

Come listen to Dr. Amy Trubek, assistant professor in the Nutrition Food Sciences department        at the University of Vermont as she explores the role of Food Studies in an undergraduate degree and the range of Food Studies programs popping up across the country. Dr. Trubek’s knowledge will help Middlebury students and faculty better understand how a Food Studies program would fit into Middlebury’s unique liberal arts curriculum.

This event is sponsored by the Environmental Council Food Subcommittee.

 To learn more about this position or to apply, visit MOJO today!

Paid Market Development Internship at Green Mountain Flour in Windsor, VT

Deadline to Apply: April 15

Green Mountain Flour seeks to secure more wholesale accounts, to more effectively get its story out to consumers, and to find and focus on the more profitable aspects of working with local grains. As an intern, you will follow the process from sourcing grains to milling/baking and then arriving at farmer’s markets where they make pizza to order in our mobile pizza oven as well as sell flour, artisianal breads and homemade sodas. You will have access to the internal workings of the company to seek out revenue generating avenues, and exploring partnerships with other organizations and businesses. This internships is funded  by the New Millennium Fund.

Today we’re focusing on a few food-related internships that cover areas of food policy, poverty, food production, and farming. Summer internships are an excellent opportunity to pursue a career or academic interest, and these four internship positions are particularly exciting! Take a look at the opportunities below, but be sure to head over to MOJOto learn more and to apply!

1. Paid Food Systems Intern at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, VT

Deadline to Apply: April 9

The Food Systems Internship will provide hands-on opportunities to experience diverse aspects of food production and food system education from farm to table. the Middlebury Food Systems Intern will participate in the breadth of Farm to School education activities taking place in 2012 summer season including the Summer Institute with Vermont FEED (Food Education Every Day), a National Farm to Cafeteria conference in Burlington, Project Seasons for Farmers, the Vermont Fresh Network annual forum at Shelburne Farms, as well as a diversity of summer youth programs.

2. Hunger Action Intern at the Presbytery of Philadelphia

Deadline to Apply: April 8

This exciting internship opportunity provides experience in both community organizing, religious outreach, and advocacy against hunger. The hunger action intern will principally be contacting churches in the Philadelphia area and meeting with them about the Presbytery’s “Labor in the Pulpits” program that focus on educating about labor issues within the church. Interns will also shadow the Hunger Action Enabler in visits to food closets and advocacy against hunger in Washington, DC. Housing is provided. *Although this internship is unpaid, you can apply for funding from Middlebury at go/summerfunding.

3. Food Activism Internship at Community Servings in Boston, MA

Deadline to Apply: April 13

Reporting directly to the CEO (Midd ’81, ’88), the intern will participate in a variety of activities within the agency–from working in the kitchen and delivering meals to sick clients, to shadowing the CEO in order to gain an understanding of the management of a complex nonprofit food program. Included will be a self-directed research project on high performing food programs throughout the US, with the opportunity to pitch ideas for expansion to the senior management team. *Although this internship is unpaid, you can apply for funding from Middlebury at go/summerfunding.

4. Paid Food and Farm Intern at Vermont Youth Conservation Corps in Richmond, VT

Deadline to Apply: April 15

This hands-on experience allows interns to take part in all aspects of food production, from ecological soil management, plant propagation, to disease and pest control and raising pasture poultry. Interns will be responsible for daily chores and upkeep of the farm, and be active participants in CSA pick-ups and farmers market sales. Interns will be encouraged to work on individual projects focused on improving the farm, sustainable agriculture, education, or food justice, and be supported by the Food & Farm Coordinator in this initiative. This opportunity is available for graduating seniors as well as undergraduates.

To learn more about these great internships, or to apply, visit MOJO today !!!!

1. Hunger Action Intern at the Presbytery of Philadelphia

Shelburne Farms is a nonprofit environmental education center, 1,400-acre working farm, and National Historic Landmark. Our mission is to cultivate a conservation ethic for a sustainable future.

The Food Systems Internship will provide hands-on opportunities to experience diverse aspects of food production and food system education from farm to table.

The intern will participate in the breadth of Farm to School education activities including the Summer Institute with Vermont FEED (Food Education Every Day), a National Farm to Cafeteria conference in Burlington, as well as a diversity of summer youth programs.

The intern will also help with research related to food system planning and development. Additional activities also include hands-on experience in organic gardening, dairy operations, cheese making and farm-based education programs.

APPLY ON MOJO TODAY!

There are some awesome opportunities for Internships in the Common Good offered through Middlebury this summer.  Below are a few fast-approaching internship deadlines that come to mind as a sampling.  Go to go/MOJO to find out more:

• ESS Wild Edibles – Local ecology and food sustainability internship – Deadline March 20
• Community School – Community School Teacher in Idaho – Deadline March 23

• Middlebury FoodWorks – The deadlines for all these have been extended to Friday March 23

1. Ashbourne Farms – Vegtable Garden Intern (Two positions available)
2. Avalon-Restaurant-Event Planning and Marketing Intern
3. Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest-Sustainable Community Garden Intern
4. Creation Gardens-Farm to Restaurant Survey Intern
5. Edible Louisville-Magazine Production Intern
6. Enviro Eco Culture-Program Assistant Director
7. Local Food Supporter or Glean Machine Coordinator
8. Louisville Independent Business Alliance-LIBA Locavore
9. Louisville Metro Government-Childhood Obesity and Local Food Access Internship
10. Rainbow Blossom Farm to Store Coordinator Intern
11. Seed Capital-Food and Hub Development Intern
12. Sustainable Agriculture-Food and Ag Assistant Educator & Organizer
13. The Root Cellar-Local Food Intern
14. Yew Dell Botanical Gardens-Garden Intern

These are ones with deadlines over Spring Break:

• Sierra Club – The Best Internship on Earth – Deadline March 27
• Annies (as in macaroni and cheese) – PAID in Berkeley, CA – deadline March 28
• New York City Mayor’s Office – City Government Internships – Offered by Alum Morgan Jones ’04 – Deadline March 30
• The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) – Communications Intern – opportunity by Midd Alum Bob Carolla ’78, NAMI Director –Deadline March 30

• US Department of Education – Editor, research and publications assistant – opportunity provided by alum Jacquelyn Zimmerman ’71 from the French School – Deadline March 31
• Roots of Health – Media and Development Intern – offered by Midd alum Stephanie Schmidt ’02 – Deadline March 31
• INROADS – Paid summer internship – Deadline March 31

…and many, many more with news ones being added daily!