Hungry World Farm

Last Updated On: February 26th, 2024 at 09:26AM MST

Contact information

Farm Address:
19183 Plow Creek Road / PO Box 386
Tiskilwa, Illinois, 61368

Primary Contact: Hungry World Farm
Primary Phone:
    Type: Office
    Number: 815.646.4730
    Email: hungryworldfarm@gmail.com

Website: https://www.hungryworldfarm.com/opportunities#interns

Internship information

General Farm Description: Hungry World Farm (HWF) is a 175 acre, nonprofit learning farm in north central Illinois committed to the vision of a “healthy, hopeful world through regenerative food and agriculture.” Building on the foundation of the past 6 years, HWF is developing robust programming to sustain its diverse operations and embody its mission: “Seeking the well-being of all, Hungry World Farm inspires and educates people about healthy fields, food, and bodies while caring for the earth.” At the core of its mission is a commitment to caring well for the earth while learning about agriculture that nourishes the humans it supplies and sustains the life, land, water, and landscapes in which it is embedded. The HWF market garden is a 1/2 acre no-till, raised bed, biointensive vegetable production system with a high tunnel, seed-starting greenhouse, wash/pack facilities, and cold storage. The market garden has been a context for significant education, partnership building, and food production for diverse markets, especially for underserved communities. HWF Livestock operations currently include a small flock of sheep and laying hens. A Lead Livestock Manager will join the team in April, and HWF will be ready to build livestock enterprises, focusing on integration of animals across the HWF land toward positive ecological outcomes and improved productivity and biodiversity. Silvopasture efforts will be central to livestock enterprises, as animals will be included as integral team members in supporting the forests, pastures, and diverse tree plantings to come at HWF. Hospitality efforts are ready for expansion, as additional Airbnb accommodations have been prepared for increased hosting capacity. HWF Food Service has a newly certified commercial kitchen with an outdoor wood-fired pizza oven seasoned through preliminary events in 2023 and ready for preparation and sharing of amazing pizzas with ingredients sourced from the farm. Breakfasts and other on-farm meals will be hosted regularly in 2024. A Food Service Director will begin at HWF in March, supporting an exciting capacity for serving delicious, locally grown food to guests and visitors. The critical design phase of agroforestry systems continues with the aim of diverse, large-scale tree plantings to establish perennial food production systems that produce an abundance of food for years to come while sequestering carbon, boosting soil health, and sustaining improved biodiversity. Hungry World Farm is positioned for significant expansion, growth, broadened outreach, and strengthened capacity to host guests and visitors for transformative experiential learning about healthy food and agriculture in 2024. So, too, HWF plans to share impactful learning opportunities with diverse audiences through a strengthened online presence and social media efforts. Hungry World Farm seeks four summer interns eager to learn and join us as key team members in making this expansion, growth, and transformative learning possible for others, all while participating in the rich experiential learning offered by the diverse food and farming activities of Hungry World Farm.

CRAFT Member Farm? No

Internship Starts: May 26
Internship Ends: August 10
Number of Internship Available: 4
Application Deadline: March 31
Minimum Length of Stay: 2 months

Internship Details:

The HWF internship program provides a learning experience tailored to each intern’s areas of particular interest. Possible focuses could include work with the market garden, livestock, food service, forestry and land care, marketing/social media, and more. Interns will play an important role in strengthening the efforts of HWF’s program areas and supporting education and enhancing guest/visitor experience in many ways. Interns will be provided a set of core learning resources with access to a library of books on regenerative food and agriculture and will be invited to journey with fellow interns toward an increasingly full understanding of the connections between healthy soil, water, plants, animals, humans, and communities. They will in turn share their learning with team members, guests, visitors, customers, and other audiences in a variety of ways as they participate in food events, lead tours, engage guests in conversations, contribute toward farm projects, promote the farm’s activities in person and online, and more. This internship program is designed to be one of experiential learning, development of skills and professional capacities, and growth alongside others in the community of serving and learning at Hungry World Farm. Interns will enjoy delicious farm food while participating in the many wonders of the natural world and the beauty and complexities of the living systems into which humans are woven. Hands-on participation in farming activities will ground interns’ learning in the rigors, demands, challenges, and delights of farming.

Creative, highly motivated, team-oriented, hard-working, eager-to-learn individuals with good communication skills and a readiness to try new opportunities will thrive in the collaborative, education-focused environment of Hungry World Farm. Interns can expect their days may hold a range of responsibilities. Interns will be encouraged to participate in HWF’s diverse educational efforts and event opportunities. These opportunities will be varied and may include such activities as setting up tables, moving furniture, serving pizzas, cleaning up, helping to host events, leading tours, preparing garden beds, harvesting produce, creating promotional materials, maintaining campsites, producing educational displays for the farm’s learning center, taking photos, communicating details, engaging with social media, and more. Interns can expect a dynamic experience alongside a motivated team with lots of learning, sharing, hard work, and fun to be appreciated throughout the summer. The strengths and interests of each intern will shape their involvement and areas of engagement, and interns will be matched with a specific program area as the context for the majority of their work.

Educational Opportunities: This internship program is designed to offer abundant learning opportunities. It combines a variety of focused learning opportunities (including books, discussion groups, and more) with practical work experience. We desire to create an environment where learning opportunities abound. We hope interns then share their learning with guests and visitors who come to the farm.

Skills Desired: Though prior farm experience is not required, we seek individuals who are actively considering farming as a life vocation. We expect interns to work well individually and in a team environment. Interns should enjoy working hard and be ready to actively engage learning opportunities, whether experiential learning in the field or various learning opportunities out of the field. Our team focuses on learning lots while working hard to accomplish goals alongside one another. Please visit our website, www.hungryworldfarm.com , for more information.

Meals: Occasional meals, connected to on-farm food service events, are provided.

Stipend: $200/month

Housing: Interns share on-farm housing with other interns.

Preferred method of Contact: Email