Job description

The Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advocate for California family farms and sustainable agriculture. CAFF is a membership organization guided by a board of directors that includes family farmers and others who are passionate about food, farming and the environment. CAFF runs Regional Food Systems projects such as Farm to School projects, Buy Fresh Buy Local campaigns, and providing technical assistance in accessing new markets to farmers around the state. Our main goals are to increase the economic viability of California family farmers and to connect communities with their local producers. See http://www.caff.org for more information.

The Central Coast Farm to School Coordinator will be primarily responsible for implementing CAFF’s Farm to School programs, including the Harvest of the Month Tasting Kit program, Know Your Farmer, and Farm to Cafeteria technical assistance projects. The primary goal of the position is to coordinate the Harvest of the Month Tasting Kit program by providing over 500 K-12 classrooms with monthly tasting kits of local produce, nutrition education, and agriculture information. The Harvest of the Month tasting kits serve as a gateway for building school-wide support for CAFF’s other Farm to School programs which aim to support schools in providing fresh, locally grown produce on school menus while also enabling students to learn about local agriculture. This position will also manage an Americorps member that will be responsible for implementing our Know Your Farmer Program and for coordinating volunteers for the various projects. The Farm to School Coordinator will work with the Regional Food Systems Manager to develop and deliver nutrition promotion activities through our Farm to Cafeteria program. Theposition will be located in Watsonville, CA with regular travel to Salinas and Sunnyvale. This position reports to the Regional Food Systems Manager, Central Coast.

Essential responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Harvest of the Month Coordination (50%):

• Oversee all aspects of CAFF’s Harvest of the Month program, including curriculum development, evaluation, daily operations, and administration
• Supervise monthly volunteers in box packing
• Coordinate with contracted distributors for deliveries
• Recruit and develop relationships with local farmers
• Outreach to schools and teachers for program sales
• Monitor budget and coordinate invoices
• Work with Program Director on program revenue strategy
• Communicate with teachers and provide customer service
• Oversee the creation of program related education materials (with support from Americorps members)
• Lead teacher trainings and cooking demonstrations

Know Your Farmer (35%):

• Oversee an Americorps member and work together to:
• Coordinate and implement farm-related nutrition education for elementary school students, including field trips to local farms and farmer visits to the classroom
• Coordinate and implement food systems lessons, seasonal produce tastings, parent and community activities at school sites as needed
• Manage invoices and purchases related to program activities

Farm to Cafeteria Technical Assistance (10%):

• Assist with the development and coordination of nutrition promotion activities for students at recess and lunch time at 5 school sites
• Supervise Americorps member and volunteers in delivering nutrition promotion activities at 5 school sites

Other (5%):

• Attend Farm-to-School related meetings on the Central Coast and represent CAFF by participating in community activities and events as necessary
• Collaborate with regional staff statewide
• Manage data collection and funder reports
• Handle some administrative duties in the regional office
• Participate in strategic planning and fundraising as needed

Qualifications:

• Strong attention to detail required
• Fluency in Spanish strongly preferred
• Experience in working with farmers and/or with schools required
• Experience with educating children in multiple settings (classroom, outdoors)
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Αbility to multi-task and organize large amounts of data
• Resourceful and able to perform a variety of administrative and organizational tasks with a creative approach to problem solving
• Flexibility to work independently, with minimal supervision, as well as collaborate with others in a team setting
• Proficiency in Survey Monkey, Constant Contact, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office, especially Excel, and experience using web and blog-based programs preferred
• Willingness to work occasional weekends and evenings
• Ability to lift 40-50 lbs.
• Applicant must have own vehicle as frequent driving throughout Central Coast and South Bay regions is required

Compensation

this position is:

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline