Farm to Early Care and Education – Food Systems Internships

Learn about community-based food systems and help build local food connections between local farmers, food hubs, and child care programs. Learn about child care environments and their food services as well as rural and urban farming systems and local food procurement systems. Join us for a 10-week paid summer food systems internship experience at one of five Child Care Technical Assistance Provider offices in North Carolina:

  1. Appalachian State University in Boone;
  2. Buncombe Partnership for Children in Asheville;
  3. UNC – Greensboro Education, Quality Improvement, & Professional Development (EQuIPD);
  4. Wake County Smart Start in Raleigh;
  5. Wayne County Partnership for Children in Goldsboro

Professional development opportunities and a tour of diverse agroecosystems across the state is included. Participants will be paid $15/hour, 40 hours per week for 10 weeks (May 20 – July 26, 2024). Travel to host sites and housing is not included.

For more information, please contact Caroline Hundley at cmstover@ncsu.edu
Apply
Application deadline is February 16, 2024. We accept applications until midnight.

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), EQuIPD, NC Partnership for Children county offices, UNC-G, and Appalachian State University are collaborating on a Farm to Early Care and Education initiative to pilot local food purchasing models for child care facilities in five areas of NC: Asheville, Boone, Greensboro, Goldsboro, and Raleigh. Farm to Early Care and Education (Farm to ECE) programs, which connect child care providers (including family child care homes, as well as public, private, and state-funded centers) with sources of local food to integrate in meals and snacks, are an example of a potential new market that provides healthy food to one of our most vulnerable populations, children aged 0-5. There are currently just over a quarter of a million children enrolled in ECE sites in North Carolina, where many are served two meals and two snacks a day, indicating the potential size of this market for local farmers. Previous work in this area has come up against challenges of coordinating the logistics of volume and distribution in order to increase benefits for farmers. Despite these challenges, there is a possibility to develop the ECE market if we can coordinate among centers to aggregate demand and increase the volume of purchases while also addressing distribution logistics. Farm to ECE summer food systems interns would help Partnerships for Children in these areas of NC work with child care centers, farmers, caterers, and food hubs to source local food for young children’s meals and snacks.

Internship Dates: May 20 – July 26, 2024*

*Possibility of extending past July 26th, pending funding and project needs. Decisions will be made on an individual basis.

Internship Overview

For summer 2024, we are looking for student interns interested in agriculture and local food purchasing and promotion, to work with the child care community in five locations across the state. Interns will support the testing, implementation, and evaluation of the Farm to Early Care and Education local food pathways and support local food programming in the centers. Examples of food systems intern projects include:

  • Farmer outreach
  • Development and implementation of ECE food service requirements and local food procurement practices
  • Local food distribution routes and logistics
  • Local food purchasing data collection
  • Recipe and cost analysis for child care meals
  • Creation and/or management of online order systems
  • Customer outreach and relationship building with child care programs and local community partnerships
  • Help child care programs reach their goals in local food purchasing, garden building and cooking activities with children
  • Work with NC Cooperative Extension to provide technical assistance to child care programs
  • Social media and website management
  • Development of policy around ECE food procurement
  • Outreach to families

Interns will be paid $15/hr for 40hrs/wk for 10 weeks (May 20 – July 26, 2024).

Five Available Summer Internship Opportunities:

Interns will be placed at NC Partnership for Children Offices, EQuIPD at UNC Greensboro, and Appalachian State University.

Interns in Asheville, Goldsboro, and Raleigh will be placed at The Partnership for Children, a nonprofit organization that provides services, advocates, and collaborates with others to ensure the wellbeing of children, ages birth to five, so they can reach their health, developmental, and educational potential. Greensboro’s intern will be placed at Education, Quality Improvement, and Professional Development (EQuIPD), whose mission is to nurture and empower early care and education professionals and programs with tools to support and sustain success. Boone’s intern will be placed at Appalachian State University’s Beaver College of Health Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Health Care Management.

All interns will facilitate the building of local food food systems for child care sites they serve. This cohort of food systems interns will participate in weekly meetings with each other and CEFS Farm to ECE program managers to share, ask questions, and learn from each other as they build local food and ECE connections.

Preference will be given to students that meet the following criteria:

  1. A current resident of the county in which they will be working, or nearby
  2. Experience with technology and online platforms
  3. Good communication skills and self-directed
  4. Knowledge of, or experience working with farmers and communities

Internship Sites:

1 – Appalachian State University (Boone, NC)

2 – Buncombe Partnership for Children (Asheville, NC)

3 – UNC – Greensboro Education, Quality Improvement, & Professional Development (EQuIPD)

4 – Wake County Smart Start (Raleigh, NC)

5 – Wayne County Partnership for Children (Goldsboro, NC)

Relevant Skills

  • Preferred experience/study in agriculture, food systems, ag business, or economics
  • Experience or knowledge of child care or educational systems in NC
  • Familiarity and comfort around young children
  • Familiarity or willingness to learn about online sales platforms
  • Experience with social media including basic analytics
  • Good communication skills
  • Preference given to students who live or attend school in communities in close proximity to the host organization of their choice

Requirements for Interns

  • Must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate, graduate, or professional degree program at any North Carolina university, college, or community college, or have graduated within 6 months of the start of the internship
  • Enthusiasm for local foods and a respect for farmers and producers from diverse rural and urban communities
  • Must attend an orientation on May 20, 2024
  • Must hold a drivers license and have access to transportation to the host site
  • Must be able to pass a drug screening and background check

Program Components

Activities will be organized into five main program elements including:

  1. Introductory “Diverse Communities and Agriculture across NC” Tours: Two 2-day farm tours and other day trips visiting various agroecosystems and communities throughout NC. These tours are important for students to understand the unique agricultural challenges facing diverse producers and communities across NC and the role of cooperative extension.
  2. Mentorship and hands-on job training: Each student will be matched with a host site (e.g., Partnership for Children office) and mentor. Mentors will oversee the student on a day-to-day basis, as well as mentor the student in a specific summer project.
  3. Professional skills development and agriculture career exploration: All students will participate in professional development activities throughout the summer. These professional development activities will likely include: leadership training, racial equity, understanding agriculture career pathways, and networking opportunities.
  4. Professional presentation opportunity: Students will be required to give a professional presentation of their summer project and experiences at the conclusion of the internship.

Participation in cohort of summer food systems interns: The cohort of food systems interns will participate in weekly meetings with each other and CEFS Farm to ECE program managers to share, ask questions, and learn from each other as they build local food and ECE connections.