The Remote Internship to Support Enterprises (RISE) for Local Foods was developed by the North Carolina Local Food Council (NCLFC) primarily to address challenges to food systems resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This internship paired seven North Carolina university students with various host sites across the state. Over the course of the RISE program, these paid student interns worked remotely to provide direct support to North Carolina producers, food hubs, and fisheries.
The 2021 RISE interns were:
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UNC – Chapel Hill (Class of ‘21) |
With the Carrboro Farmers Market, Liz helped various vendors (and the market itself), develop and maintain an online presence through social media and newsletter outreach. Liz developed an extensive Instagram guide for vendors new to the platform that highlights how to create an account, use hashtags to increase visibility, and balance marketing with individual vendor personalities and stories. Through RISE, Liz learned time management, facilitation, and the logistics of organizing a program – all of which she hopes to use as a future project manager. Maggie Funkhouse, Carrboro Farmers Market: “Liz took on many different types of projects as needed and was a wonderful resource for the members of our Market, whether that was helping members with specific projects (for example, developing a customer newsletter for a farmer) or with general consulting for a farmer’s online presence. She also developed visual guides for our Market to help members in the future with digital marketing endeavors.” |
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NC State University (Class of Dec ‘21) |
A major part of Divya’s work with The Black Farmers Hub/Grocers on Wheels was in community outreach. Divya made consistent updates to their website, highlighting products, media appearances, and donations. In addition, she created and distributed newsletters, helping to integrate social media posts and product/event promotion targeted towards an increase in sales. Through this internship, Divya gained a broader understanding and appreciation for community food systems and the types of support and resources that local growers need. Divya Lipscomb’s reflection: “Throughout this internship I have learned so much about my community and my local food systems. I have a much better understanding of the level of support that local growers need…Going forward, I plan to continue working within my community, and the marketing knowledge that I gained during this internship will help me with that.” |
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Appalachian State University (Class of ‘21) |
In her work with Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture (BRWIA), Carlisle focused a large portion of her time on the Double Up Food Bucks program for the High Country Food Hub, compiling data and developing/leading a fundraiser for the program. In addition, Carlisle spent time working on BRWIA’s Annual Impact Report, specifically focusing on the Double Up Food Bucks program and farmer testimonials. With the help of RISE, Carlisle feels more prepared to discuss and act within food systems work, which is something that she intends to continue doing. Carlisle Poteat-Deblock’s reflection: “Being a part of an internship that has been positively impacted by the pandemic in regards to sales and helping farmers, I can see how technology can truly bring people and communities together in a whole other way.” |
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High Point University (Class of ‘22) |
Taylor’s time with the Visit NC Farms App began with interviewing and compiling an extensive list of NC seafood producers in order for them to be added to the app as assets. Taylor also helped promote NC strawberry producers for the 2021 strawberry season and created tutorial videos highlighting the use and administration of the Visit NC Farms App. With this internship, Taylor enjoyed learning about communication styles and leadership in the workplace. Victoria Patterson, Visit NC Farms App: “Our RISE Intern has helped us by jumping in and learning our software in order to help us manage our new asset accounts. She has also helped us add tools for our administrators through creating videos and tutorials. Taylor has been great at being a team player and helping with things as they come up!” |
 Aditya VhanmaneNC State University (Class of ‘21) |
Aditya’s main project with Resourceful Communities was to support the development of an inter-food hub trading model. Through research, interviews, and his experience studying supply chain logistics, Aditya helped to visualize what trade between food hubs might realistically look like in the future. The RISE program gave Aditya a deeper understanding of local food systems, the complexities and challenges they face, and the resilience of NC producers. Olivia Percoco, Resourceful Communities: “Aditya helped our food hubs visualize the ways in which they could source from each other through a really useful map of the varying distances food hubs were willing to travel to buy/sell to each other.” |
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NC State University (Class of ‘23) |
In her time with the Greensboro Farmers Curb Market (GFCM), Sarah undertook research comparing various aggregator models for online platforms with the intention of helping GFCM increase presales for their numerous vendors. In addition, Sarah led presentations and created guides for vendors on tips for photography and the use/marketability of Instagram and Facebook. Through RISE, Sarah learned communication, research, and organizational skills while broadening her agricultural knowledge to include farms of smaller-scale. Angie Blomer, Greensboro Farmers Curb Market: The RISE for Local Foods program “was very critical for us during a time when our resources (time and hours) were minimized due to increased duties related to COVID-19 and less budget for support staff due to less income.” |
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UNC – Chapel Hill (Class of Dec ‘20) |
Sienna’s work with NC Sea Grant centered around creating new websites for four NC seafood producers. By conducting research, compiling a list of existing web platforms, and interviewing clients to gauge needs/wants, Sienna was able to build unique websites that highlighted the stories, products, and personalities of the producers while engaging customers with design and integrated online sales capabilities. Through this internship, Sienna has learned web and graphic design skills and has a better understanding of how to promote local foods while supporting local producers. Barry Nash, NC Sea Grant: “RISE was hugely beneficial to my recipients, who are sharing their deliverables with friends, family and associates to the extent I’m still getting requests for website assistance. There is a strong, ongoing need for technology assistance among seafood products that another RISE effort can satisfy.” |
Because the first pilot year was such a success and the demand for producers to have websites and presence on social media is only increasing, we are hoping to continue the RISE internship in future years and are currently looking for funding to continue the program.