Green Mountain Farm-to-School (GMFTS) is a non-profit organization based in Newport, Vermont. They are founded on the mission to promote economic viability by integrating local food, schools, and community. GMFTS boasts three programs to carry out these missions: Farm-to-School, The Lunchbox, and Farm Direct.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
During my internship, I had three main responsibilities:
- Facilitate the operation of The Lunchbox program
- Manage school and community gardens
- Create and assist with communication projects
The Lunchbox
I spent the bulk of my internship assisting with The Lunchbox program. The Lunchbox offers free meals to kids (18 and under) through the USDA's Summer Meal Program. Each site features a market basket table which offers fresh, local produce at no cost to visitors. There is also an activity table that engages kids in arts and crafts relating to food systems. My weekly duties included planning the enrichment activity, acquiring materials, setting up, running the market basket and activity tables, and take-down.
Garden Maintenance
The second part of my internship involved taking care of the Bluffside Community and Newport Town School gardens. I also provided assistance with All-School Planting days that took place at the beginning of June. All- School Planting days allowed kids from grades K-8 get involved with the planting of their school garden.
Communications and Outreach
The third part of my internship involved creating social media content and writing articles for the organization newsletter and website. I was tasked with creating weekly social media posts announcing The Lunchbox list of activities and menu, as well as an end-of-the-week recap. I was also tasked with sending out weekly emails for The Lunchbox. Over the course of my internship, I composed a press release, assisted with articles for the Summer Newsletter, and wrote a blog article.