New Undergraduate Internship Builds Community and Food Security One Seed at a Time

Sponsor: Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions

Team Members:

  • Kate Yerxa, Extension Professor & Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program Coordinator, University of Maine Cooperative Extension/School of Food and Agriculture (team leader)
  • Kate Garland, Horticulture Professional, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
  • Christina Lannan, Rogers Farm Enrichment Coordinator, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
  • Mitchell Center Mentor: Rachel Schattman, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Agriculture, University of Maine School of Food and Agriculture

Partners:

  • Jessica Archer, Orono Middle School
  • Mary Keane, Old Town Elementary School
  • Joanna Stevens, Science Teacher, Old Town High School
  • Jennnifer Sonnenberg, Orono Health Association
  • Jennifer McNulty, School of Kinesiology and Physical Education, UMaine
  • Jade McNamara, School of Food and Agriculture, UMaine

Food insecurity remains a significant public health challenge in Maine. Local food systems offer solutions to food insecurity, yet community gardens, food pantries, and other partners need support to implement place-based, collaborative approaches.

This project aims to provide that support by piloting an undergraduate internship in UMaine’s School of Food and Agriculture, building on long-standing interdisciplinary collaborations between the School of Food and Agriculture, Cooperative Extension, and the College of Education.

Rogers Farm, UMaine’s 30-year-old demonstration and teaching site, will serve as the homebase for the internship. The student intern will assist with planting and harvesting crops, lead educational events like cooking demonstrations, and collaborate with local organizations to donate the produce.

Community partners including schools and non-profits will play a role in each step — from seed-to-plate — demonstrating that local solutions, rooted in food production and distribution, can help ease food insecurity.

K-12 educators in Old Town, Orono, and Alton are looking forward to working with the student intern to engage students in garden-based learning focused on nutrition, cooking skills, and reducing food waste. Local food security partners including the Wabanaki mobile food pantry and the Orono Health Association food pantry will distribute the projected harvest of 12,000 pounds of produce.

The long-term goal is to sustain and expand this pilot and use it as a model for experiential learning at UMaine while preparing student interns to apply interdisciplinary food systems knowledge to real-world food security and sustainability challenges.

Because of this grant, Yerxa said, “UMaine undergraduate students in the School of Food and Agriculture will have the opportunity to train in multiple areas like sustainable agriculture and nutrition and  experience an integrated seed-to-plate learning experience that connects food production, food safety, nutrition, and public outreach.”