The UW Food Pantry has an opening for a student Fresh Food and Sustainability Intern. The focus of this position is on food gleaning/recapture from the UW Farm and on-campus dining locations for redistribution at the UW Food Pantry. This might be for you if you enjoy being outside, working with the UW Farm, and are interested in bringing your peers together to reduce food waste and help students in need.
The internship requires 10-14 hours per week. Applications are due on Handshake by February 9.
Job Description
The UW Food Pantry is seeking one student as the fresh food and sustainability intern to work toward limiting food waste by gathering and redistributing food that would otherwise go to into the waste stream to students who are food insecure. This includes work underway with the UW Farm and Housing and Food Services to supply The Pantry with food grown on The Farm and remaining from Housing and Food Service locations though gleaning. Additional opportunity exists to work with UW IT on a technology solution to allow event hosts with food to connect with students who are need of food. The person in this role will have additional opportunity to identify and pursue sustainability objectives of their own which help with food waste reduction and redistribution.
Responsibilities are likely to include
- Work with leadership in HFS and The UW Farm to expand a program by which the UW Pantry gleans leftover perishable food from HFS and Farm locations to distribute at The Pantry.
- Develop, train, and organize a volunteer group dedicated to gleaning food from campus dining locations and The UW Farm – this may be two separate groups.
- Coordinate logistics and be responsible for regular (daily/weekly) pick-up, relocation, documentation and display of fresh food to the Pantry.
- Collaborate with the UW Food Pantry coordinator and co-coordinator to provide the UW Food Pantry service and distributed recaptured food through the Pantry.
- Provide leadership in the UW Food Pantry and work up to 6 hours per week during Pantry operating hours.
- Collaborate with the Pantry leadership to market and promote access to fresh food.
- Identify and implement infrastructure improvements to support the gleaning of food.
- Develop documents, plans, protocols, and resources to ensure a smooth execution of responsibilities and transition of information.Develop, implement, and analyze assessments related to the gleaning and redistribution of food and work toward continuous improvement of operations.
- Collaborate with students and student groups interested in food recovery and food systems.
- Attend regular leadership meetings for The Farm and The Pantry.
- Organize and facilitate meetings in order to move projects forward.
- Maintain regular communication with supervisor and important partners.