Child Nutrition Intern

Child Nutrition Intern

The child nutrition programs in White River Valley Supervisory Union, VT, play a crucial role in supporting the community's mission by ensuring that children have access to nutritious food, fostering their physical and cognitive development, and promoting their overall well-being. These programs strive to ensure that all children, regardless of their socioeconomic background, have equal access to nutritious meals and the benefits they offer. By contributing to the health and well-being of children, our Child Nutrition programs contribute to a stronger and more vibrant community as a whole. Last year, over the summer we served 10,000 meals over 6 weeks. The work of the intern will allow us to serve more children for up to 10 weeks and serve up to 20,000 meals.

Intern Responsibilities:

• Assist in planning, packing, and distributing meal kits and weekend food bags
• Learn and maintain food inventory
• Prepare Summer food bags
• Develop and produce educational materials/recipes to include in meal kits and food bags
• Design and execute tasting opportunities at meal kit distribution sites 
• Assist with record keeping, data management, and documentation of production and dissemination 
• Design, research, and execute a summer/back-to-school newsletter highlighting our programs 
• Interview and develop relationships with local stakeholders such as local businesses and farmers who may offer products to add to our Child Nutrition Menus and aid in our effort to source more local foods. 

Learning Opportunities for the Intern:

• Apply nutritional science to a community nutrition program
• Become familiar with/practice ordering products from food service vendors and local farms
• Understand the broad range of skills, knowledge and relationships necessary to develop and operate a Summer Food Service Program 
• Witness an effective, high-volume community program built on relationships, partnerships, and love for children

Preferred skills and interests of the intern:

• Passion for providing nutrition to children
• Ability to work independently after being trained
• Familiarity with basic Google functions
• Adaptable team member
• Good customer service skills
• Willingness to learn 
• Coursework in Nutrition, Community Development, Food Systems, or Education
• Have own computer

This position is part of a cohort of 12 interns working with organizations that support the White River Valley Community Schools.  Funded by the UVM Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships, free housing for interns will be provided at Vermont Technical College in Randolph, VT.  Interns will participate in a week-long community orientation, weekly intern cohort workshops for professional development, networking, and reflection, and a final sharing event on Monday, August 4, 5:30-7 pm.  

Questions about the cohort? Contact UVM Internship Coordinator kristen.andrews@uvm.edu