About the Role
(This position is currently filled but we will gladly consider your application for the next term. The earliest possible start date for the next member in this role is 2/12/24).
As a Local Food System Education and Outreach VISTA with Field to Family, your service will build capacity by enhancing the organization’s educational programming through coalition building, community organizing, resource sharing, outreach and promotion.
With staff guidance, you will lead the development and implementation of a Farm to School education plan, including a portfolio of content for producers and schools intended to be accessible to farmers, school administration, educators, families, and children in Johnson, Linn, and neighboring counties. This will include expanding on an existing Farm to Classroom portal and connecting students’ learning with current and future school gardens and other interactive experiences.
Requirements
You should work alongside diverse groups of people with accountability & compassion; be eager to establish & maintain positive working relationships; & have an equity centered mindset, excellent communication, & interpersonal & organizational skills.
About the Organization
As a Nourish Iowa VISTA member, you will serve among a cohort of members throughout Iowa, sponsored by the Center for Energy & Environmental Education at the University of Northern Iowa, and will have frequent opportunities to share knowledge within this community through regular cohort-wide meetings and site visits.
In addition to all standard AmeriCorps VISTA benefits, you will engage regularly with thought leaders in local food via the Cedar Valley Regional Food & Farm Network and Regional Food Systems Working Group, in addition to being invited to professional development opportunities coordinated by a VISTA Leader in your cohort.
In this position, you will be placed with Field to Family in Iowa City, a mission-driven nonprofit that provides food system education; supports a shared vision of a community food system that enhances our economic, environmental and community health; and expands access to locally grown and produced food to all citizens in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids region.
Field to Family works to increase access to local food in Iowa so more people in institutions such as schools, retirement communities, colleges, universities, and hospitals can enjoy meals grown by farmers a few miles away everyday. We envision a strong and community-based Eastern Iowa local food system with infrastructure to support a thriving wholesale market for foods from the region that are high quality, fairly priced, and sustainably produced. Your service will contribute to greater equity in Iowa City’s local food system for farmers and residents considered Socially Disadvantaged by the USDA.