FoodCorps Massachusetts AmeriCorps Service Member

Who We Are

FoodCorps is a nationwide team of AmeriCorps leaders that connects kids to food and helps them grow up healthy. We do that by placing motivated leaders in limited-resource communities for a year of public service. Serving under the direction of local partner organizations, our service members focus on three areas of service:

● Hands-on learning: students grow, cook, and taste new foods, which builds their skills and changes food preferences

● Healthy school meals: the cafeteria experience steers students towards the healthiest options and gets them excited to try new healthy foods

● Schoolwide culture of health: as a whole, the school community and environment – from hallways to classrooms to cafeteria to grounds – celebrates healthy food. We measure our success in terms of changes in children, schools, and systems. 

Locations in Massachusetts:

• Springfield
• Holyoke
• New Bedford
• Lowell
• Chelsea
• Boston

What We’re Looking For

• Passion for building a healthier future for school children
• Commitment to working hard in service of local communities in order to make a difference
• Demonstrated leadership ability
• Motivation to serve full-time in a limited resource community
• Perseverance in the face of challenges and creativity in finding solutions
• Respect for diversity of opinion, experience, and background
• Experience working in or studying food systems, agriculture, public health, education, school
• nutrition, culinary arts, community organizing, or public service
• Experience working or volunteering in education, youth development, or other teaching setting
• Knowledge of the culture, history, and/or language of the communities we serve
• Desire to gain hands-on experience for your career
• Demonstrated ability or dedication to performing the activities listed below
• To be considered for a FoodCorps service member position, you must:
• Be 18 years or older by the start of your service term
• Be a legal, permanent resident of the United States
• Hold a high school diploma, GED or equivalent
• Individual service positions differ by location. There may be additional requirements depending on the site to which you apply.

What You’ll Do

Service members work with schools, service site organizations and local communities to build healthy school food environments. They do this in a variety of ways:

● Service members focus on teaching children in grades K-8 about food and nutrition in the classroom or cafeteria by delivering engaging, hands-on lessons, integrating activities into subjects such as math, science and history, working with teachers and school administrators to increase food and nutrition education in curricula, and more.

● Service members grow healthy food with students, teachers, and community members in school gardens, dynamic educational settings where kids can get their hands dirty and experience what they’re learning first-hand. While some service members expand/maintain already-existing school gardens, greenhouses and hoop houses, others work to establish new gardens. Service members develop garden sustainability plans and recruit community volunteers to ensure that the projects they start last into the future.

● Service members help build schoolwide cultures of health by building strong, collaborative relationships with teachers, families, and school administrators, recruiting and training volunteers, organizing committees and running meetings, talking to press and public officials.

● Service members spend time learning and participating in trainings, helping FoodCorps and schools assess the impact they are having, and raising money to help support the local projects when allowable. 

What You’ll Gain

• $26,000 living stipend for Service Members, paid bi-weekly.
• $6,345 AmeriCorps Segal Education Award, upon successful completion of your term of
• service
• Health insurance*
• Partial childcare reimbursement, if you qualify
• Student loan forbearance, if you qualify
• Training, mentorship, and professional development opportunities