VISTA Positions to Increase Healthy Food Access

Posted by on May 07, 2012

AmeriCorps VISTA Positions to Increase Healthy Food Access

The Food Trust (http://www.thefoodtrust.org) is excited to announce four openings for AmeriCorps VISTA members to increase healthy food access in underserved communities, with the overall goal of helping to alleviate poverty. The AmeriCorps VISTA members will work with The Food Trust staff and our two partner organizations, the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger and Chester’s Community Grocery Co-op, to help people in disadvantaged communities increase access to healthy food, improve food security, and ensure children and adults have the information and education they need to make healthy food choices.

AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed specifically to fight poverty. VISTA members commit to serve full‐time for a year at a nonprofit organization creating or expanding programs designed to bring individuals and communities out of poverty. During your service, you’ll receive a modest living allowance, health insurance, and other benefits. Learn more about becoming a VISTA at: http://www.americorps.gov/about/programs/vista.asp.

Two of the four AmeriCorps VISTA positions will be at The Food Trust (one with the Healthy Corner Store team, the o ther with our Farmers’ Market Program), a third position is with Chester’s Community Grocery Co-op in Chester, PA, and a fourth is with the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger in Philadelphia. Each AmeriCorps VISTA member will commit to serve full-time for a year, starting July 26. Briefly, the four positions are:

·         The Food Trust Farmer’s Market Program:  Build capacity of farmers’ markets through partnerships to promote food assistance programs and develop training for market managers and farmers on best practices for markets in high-need areas.

·         The Food Trust’s Healthy Corner Store Initiative:  Increase healthy food choices in corner stores among low-income customers , through building community outreach, support from local partners, and relationships with healthy food suppliers.

·         Chester Community Grocery Coop: Build connections between the Co-op and local farms, and improve the employability of young adults by developing internship programs around healthy food and healthy eating, and operating a food business or farmers’ market.

·         Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger’s Healthy Food Pantry Program:  Improve the nutritional quality of foods provided by food pantries and to determine ways to increase the quantity of these foods available to food pantry visitors.

To learn more about VISTA and these four positions, and to apply, please visit the AmeriCorps website at: http://my.americorps.gov. Click on “Search Listings,” and in the drop-down boxes, put in “AmeriCorps VISTA” for Program Type, “Pennsylvania” for state, and, in the last box, “Food Trust” (for the farmers’ market or corner store positions), “coop” for the Chester Coop position, and “pantry” for the Healthy Food Pantry position.