NYS Public Health AmeriCorps Farm to School Member
November 2024 – August 2025, 900 hours (24 hours/week)
Public Health AmeriCorps (PHA) Farm to School members are a part of the Food and Health Network’s regional Farm to School program that works collaboratively with 29 school districts in South Central New York. PHA Farm to School members will work as part of a team with the Farm to School Coordinator to develop, implement, grow, and evaluate programs to bring healthy, local food to students. Members will work with staff, students, parents, farms, and community partners to increase capacity for hands-on learning, local procurement, and creating a school-wide culture of health.
This position requires a personal vehicle.
Program goals:
- Increase access to healthy, locally grown food through school meals including breakfast, lunch and snacks;
- Engage students in hands-on learning through growing, cooking, and tasting new foods in order to build their skills, food literacy, and healthy food preferences;
- Cultivate farm to school leadership among students, staff, and volunteers;
- Build capacity and sustainability through improved coordination, community outreach, parent involvement, and volunteer recruitment and management
The responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Develop and maintain relationships with Farm to School partners; including School Food Service, school staff, farmers, and community organizations;
- Create and deliver educational programs and special events including taste tests, after-school or summer clubs, community programs, and harvest celebrations;
- Maintain a regular presence in school cafeterias to promote healthy options, local food, and NY Thursday menus;
- Design outreach and publicity materials;
- Assist with promotion of local food, NY Thursday menus, and related farm to school content through social media, blog posts, newsletters, and video;
- Assist school staff, students, and volunteers with school garden maintenance and hands-on learning opportunities;
- Support food access for students and families in the community through sharing resources, participating in community meetings, and assisting with food distribution as needed;
- Attend regular trainings;
- Regularly record programming data for evaluation and reporting
- Serve as an independent member of the Farm to School team
- Assist in resource development to support Farm to School activities to the extent permitted (10% of total time in service, no work on federal funding applications, etc. by the AmeriCorps National Service Program and with the specific guidance of the Rural Health Network).
Qualifications:
- Experience gardening and/or farming, community organizing, studying food systems or sustainable agriculture, or working in public health
- Experience teaching or working with groups of kids (formal or non-formal)
- Comfort working in a kitchen (home or commercial) desirable but not required
- Commitment to public service
- Strong public speaking, writing, interpersonal, and organizational skills
- Connection to and/or knowledge of the community you want to serve
- Understanding of our mission and scope
NYS Public Health AmeriCorps Produce Prescription Assistant
Flexible schedule: 675 hours must be completed within one year. A typical schedule is around 9 months at 20 hours/week (eg January 2025 – September 2025)
The Public Health AmeriCorps (PHA) Produce Prescription member is a part of the Food and Health Network’s regional Produce Prescription program that works with healthcare providers throughout the Southern Tier to create better health outcomes for patients diagnosed with diet-related chronic health disease and living with food insecurity. The PHA Produce Prescription member will work as part of a team with the Food as Medicine Coordinator to develop, implement, grow, and evaluate the program to bring healthy, local food to patients. Members will work with staff, healthcare providers, patients, vendors, and community partners to expand access to fresh fruits and vegetables for members of the community through Produce Prescription.
This position requires a valid driver’s license and a personal vehicle.
Program goals:
- Increase access to fruits and vegetables for patients living with diet-related chronic health disease;
- Cultivate patient understanding between the correlations of food and health;
- Develop program champions among patients, healthcare providers and vendors;
- Build capacity and sustainability through improved coordination, community outreach, patient involvement, and partner recruitment and management.
The responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Develop and maintain relationships with Produce Rx partners; including healthcare providers, patients, farmers, and community organizations;
- Coordinate enrollment fairs with healthcare providers and appropriate community partners;
- Organize volunteer efforts in preparation of program materials, including vouchers and kitchen incentives;
- Provide general patient support navigating the PRx program including responding to patient inquiries and assisting with program enrollment;
- Assist healthcare providers in implementing the program by distributing materials, providing updates, and entering patient survey data as needed;
- Collaborate with Food as Medicine Coordinator to design and disseminate educational materials;
- Research best practices and patient-centered approaches to Produce Rx, creating an annotated bibliography for reference in future grants to the extent permitted (10% of total time in service, no work on federal funding applications, etc. by the AmeriCorps National Service Program and with the specific guidance of the Rural Health Network).
- Attend regular trainings;
- Deliver produce boxes to patients when needed;
- Regularly record programming data for evaluation and reporting.
Qualifications:
- Experience with communications, community organizing, studying food systems or human services, or working in public health;
- Ability to read and understand a recipe, and experience in a kitchen (home or commercial) is desirable but not required;
- Comfort learning and communicating new ideas;
- Interest in working within rural communities;
- Connection to and/or knowledge of rural communities, preferred;
- Commitment to public service;
- Strong public speaking, writing, interpersonal, and organizational skills
- Skilled in conducting research and compiling scholarly citations.
- Understanding of our mission and scope.