The Garden Kitchen is a “seed-to-table” education and resource program of the University of Arizona, Pima County Cooperative Extension located in the heart of South Tucson. We aim to empower Pima County residents to build community wellness and make healthier choices through food, fitness, and gardening education. Our focus includes policy, system and environmental change.
Where: The Garden Kitchen is located at 2205 S. 4th Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85713. The Garden Kitchen is located in the city of South Tucson. However, the primary work is out in community sites throughout Pima County. Some work has been done virtually but it is mostly hands-on and in-person.
When: Summer, Fall and Spring semesters. Our programming works around the needs of community partners. Though this is mostly during traditional Monday-Friday work hours, some of our programming is after hours and on weekends. We especially need support on Saturdays for food-based programs. The second Saturday of each month is an open-house for the community, from 10-11:30 am, and for which we like to have student support. There are also additional hands-on cooking classes on other Saturdays each month, for which the facilitator needs support in production and cleanup. This is essential to our program.
Contact:
Please submit a resume and letter of recommendation to: Nancy Tepper (nancytepper@arizona.edu)
Positions Available:
Our student interns work within our community sites, supporting the programming and the populations who are SNAP- eligible. We are happy to work with prospective interns to make the experience as positive an advantageous as possible.
Student Characteristics
We work within a trauma-informed lens to support at-risk populations. Programming centers on nutrition, physical activity and gardening, and our clientele range from early childhood education through seniors. Students will learn within all three of these priorities and also learn to work within our licensed commercial kitchen, where our in-house programming takes place.
We welcome students who seek a variety of learning experiences, and who have an interest in serving nutrition and garden-related educational needs of potentially at-risk communities in the realms described. The students will be exposed to and have the opportunity to gain educational and practical skills such as presentation skills, outreach experience, community education, coordinating small projects, relationship building, and event planning.
Intern will assist in all facets of the program. Preferred qualifications:
- A commitment of at least six hours per week.
- Experience in community outreach or community-based work.
- Good organizational and interpersonal skills.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Attention to detail, particularly when planning and implementing nutrition programming.
- Able to complete tasks independently and collaboratively in a team environment.
- Experience working in a professional setting.
- An interest in working with minority and low-income populations to reduce barriers to health around nutrition and physical activity.
- An interest in collaborative program design, policy level work and/or recommendations, and systems change.
Compensation/Benefits: Unpaid Internship, school credit can be acquired. Benefits include educational and practical skills such as presentation skills, outreach experience, community education, coordinating small projects, relationship building, and event planning.