Sunday, January 3, 2010

Washington State Department of Agriculture seeks a Farm-to-School Project Coordinator‏

Deadline: January 15, 2010

This is a three year, full-time project position. Location is preferred in Seattle. Travel is required with possible overnight stays.

The WSDA Farm-to-School Program is dedicated to fostering relationships between schools and agricultural producers in Washington State. Our goal is to support expanding economic opportunities for farmers while educating students about the connections between food, farming, health, and the environment. The program provides information, inspiration, assistance, and policy solutions for those working to supply healthy Washington-grown food and related education to youth in our State.

Duties include but are not limited to the following:

* Develop and conduct training sessions to educate growers about institutional markets

* Develop and conduct farm-to-school workshops and adapt an online toolkit for school food service professionals.

* Develop resources and hold events to help farmers understand and prepare for Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) audits.

* Plan, conduct and analyze surveys of farmers and processors to build an inventory of current capacity for post-harvest processing required to meet the school food service market.

* Develop and oversee contracts and supervise volunteers to complete some projects.

QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelors degree and at least two years relevant experience in agricultural or food marketing.

Preferred Skills:

* Food industry experience in marketing, distribution, institutional purchasing, and/or farm business planning.
* Survey research development, analysis and reporting
* Excellent verbal and written communication
* Training and event planning and meeting facilitation
* Ability to independently work on multiple projects within timelines

HOW TO APPLY – DO NOT APPLY THROUGH CAREERS.WA.GOV

Send a letter of interest, an application or resume, and answers to the questions below no later than January 15, 2010 to Linda Pentt, Human Resource Consultant: hr (at) agr.wa.gov OR fax to: 360-902-1821 OR snail mail: P.O. Box 42560, Olympia, WA 98504-2560

Questions for Applicants:

1. What is your experience with agricultural or food marketing? What was your specific role and responsibility in that endeavor? If you have experience in institutional purchasing, please describe that here, as well.

2. This job will require collaborative work with a variety of agencies, stakeholder groups, agricultural producers, local school districts and other interested parties. What is your experience working collaboratively with diverse groups and guiding a group to successfully implement a program? What specific roles and responsibilities have you had in this process?

3. Describe any experience you have designing and conducting survey research projects. Please include your specific roles in developing research plans, analyzing data and reporting findings.

4. What other experience do you have that would be beneficial to this position that you have not already expressed in your cover letter or resume?

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