General Description:
The Local Foods Intern will assist DC Central Kitchen in developing programs to provide its clients with access to and education about nutritious food. DCCK prepares 4,000 daily meals for clients at 100 shelters and social-service agencies, and places a very strong emphasis on cooking with local and sustainable produce and meats. In 2009, the Kitchen began buying the majority of its produce directly from local farmers, and, two years ago, started a successful gleaning program through which volunteers pick surplus crops for use in DCCK’s meals. The Local Foods Intern will work on tasks, including research on area farms and studies of food-purchasing and donations trends, to help strengthen the Kitchen’s exciting and important efforts to provide clients with healthy and local food.
We are seeking an intern to work approximately ten hours per week, starting in January. This position will report directly to the Resources Procurement Coordinator, but may also assist in related projects with other staff in the Partner Relations department. Though the internship is unpaid, it offers an excellent opportunity to gain experience working on food-justice issues and at a large non-profit that empowers residents across the DC area.
Specific Responsibilities:
- Research and reach out to local farms so that the Kitchen can expand its network of places to take volunteer groups gleaning
- Conduct cost-benefit analysis, enter food-donor data into Access database, run reports and develop charts to help DCCK make decisions on food procurement
- Research sustainable sources of meat for purchase
- Assist in developing educational material on local foods and nutrition
- Assist the Partner Relations department, which includes food procurement, volunteer programming, agency relations and nutrition education, on other duties as needed
- Strong interest in local foods and environmental sustainability, as well as desire to be part of a large non-profit whose mission is to "combat hunger and create opportunity"
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (e.g. ability to generate graphs and charts in Excel)
- Strong quantitative skills, which will be necessary in making food-pricing comparisons
- Knowledge about and interest in the local food movement
- Research, writing and editing skills
- Ability to stay flexible and keep a sense of humor while working well in a fast-paced and crowded environment
Send a cover letter and resume to Erin Littlestar, Resources Procurement Coordinator: elittlestar(at)dccentralkitchen.org. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
Organization Background:
DC Central Kitchen [1] is a community kitchen in that uses the existing ingredients of our society to strengthen bodies, empower minds, and build communities. We distribute more than 4,000 daily meals, made largely of donated surplus food, to 100 shelters and social-service agencies in the DC area. We also run the nationally recognized Culinary Job Training program to prepare underemployed men and women for careers in the culinary industry. Our other programs include: Healthy Returns, through which we provide healthy snacks and nutrition lessons to children; First Helping, a street-outreach team; Fresh Start, a catering company staffed by graduates of our job-training class; and the Campus Kitchens Project, which brings the DCCK model to colleges nationwide.