Santa Cruz River Farmers Market
The Santa Cruz Rivers Farmers Market is a program of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. Our market’s focus is to provide food assistance programs to low-income neighborhoods and bring access to fresh local produce. We provide the double-up SNAP for people with SNAP benefits, along with the Farmers Market Nutrition Program for eligible seniors and WIC families. A part of our market we also have the Abundant Harvest Cooperative program that works with backyard growers and small farmers to sell produce at the market on their behalf for a percentage of the sales. The market has a between 15-25 vendors depending on the season. Through all these aspects of our work we are striving to grow a more sustainable local food system, support small business to grow our local economy and support small farmers to grow nutrient dense foods.
Where: The Santa Cruz River Farmers Market is every Thursday at the MSA Annex, 267 S Avenida del Convento. The farmers market team works at the Community Food Bank of Southern AZ office at 3003 S Country Club Rd.
When: Internships are available every semester. The market is year round and takes place 3-6pm October-April and 4-7pm May-September. All other work happens during the Monday- Friday work week at the food bank. Most of the support needed is at the market on Thursdays for set up, during the market, and break down. Set up and Break down happen an hour before and after the market.
To Apply/Contact: Please submit a resume and letter of recommendation to: Amrita Khalsa (akhalsa@communityfoodbank.org)
Positions Available:
Interns work with the Farmers Market Coordinator and Abundant Harvest Cooperative Coordinator to set up and break down the market and be present at the AHC produce table and Information Booth for the duration of our weekly market. We are happy to work with prospective interns to make the experience as positive and advantageous as possible, and develop any unique skills.
Student Characteristics
We work with customers from a range of cultural, age and socio economic backgrounds. Many of our customers speak Spanish as their first language, or may be new to the farmers market. Because of different backgrounds at our market we want to be patient and explain our food benefit programs to our community members and help them feel welcome to use and shop with their food assistance benefits.
We welcome students who seek a variety of learning experiences, and who have an interest in food justice work, food system change and relationship building. The students will be exposed to and have the opportunity to gain educational and practical skills such as community building skills, social media experience, and event planning. Intern will assist in all facets of the program.
Preferred qualifications:
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A commitment of at least 5 hours per week. (Thursdays 2-7pm October-April, 3-8pm May-September).
- Experience in community outreach or community-based work.
- Good organizational and interpersonal, customer service skills.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Bilingual in Spanish.
- Social Media skills.
- Attention to detail.
- Able to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment.
- Experience working in a professional setting.
- An interest in learning about food benefits programs for low-income neighbors to reduce barriers to fresh local produce.
- An interest in collaborative program design and systems change.
Compensation/Benefits: Unpaid Internship, school credit can be acquired. Benefits include educational and practical skills such as outreach experience, social media marketing, community engagement and education, relationship building, and event planning.