Internships and Jobs
Hands-on experience in farming and food systems both enhances your education, and opens doors to future employment opportunities. SAG students are highly encouraged to participate in internships locally, throughout the US, and abroad. Talk to your advisor about obtaining academic credit for your internship, and working these important opportunities into your course of study. We frequently place students in standing internships with partnering organizations (link to internships with partnering organizations – might name something else), as well as with the farms, non-profit organizations, and businesses that contact us regularly seeking out SAG students. Opportunities for internships are listed below, and are regularly posted on the SAG listserv for current SAG major and minor students. The “Internship and Job Bulletin Board” below displays recent positions sent out over the listserv. Additionally, in the National and International Internship Networks section below, you will find links to helpful sites which list general "interns wanted" opportunities from different regions.
Internships with program partners
Campus Community Gardens – The campus community gardens at the Shawneetown/Greg Page complexes provide space for over 70 gardeners each year. The plot holders are largely international students and families, and provides a home for a highly diverse community of gardeners. Student interns help organize garden orientations, assign plots, and help with garden management activities. This has been a great internship for students interested in gardening with diverse audiences, local food systems, and food security. Contact Krista Jacobsen for more information, and visit the SEAD student club Facebook group for more information on activities that support the gardens.
Greenhouse 17 – Greenhouse 17 is an advocacy agency committed to ending intimate partner abuse in families and the community. Their main facility is situated on a beautiful 40 acre property in rural Fayette County, and serves clients in the surrounding 17 county area. Their farming program has thrived through the work of the farm manager and SAG program graduate, Jessica Ballard. Interns at Greenhouse 17 gain experience in diversified horticulture production, creation of value-added products, and exposure to programs training survivors of intimate partner abuse in small-business training and micro-enterprise development. Contact Greenhouse 17’s Jessica Ballard for more information, and visit the Greenhouse 17 Farm webpage.
Seadleaf - Seedleaf is a community gardening organization in Lexington, KY focused on nourishing communities through the growing, cooking, sharing, and recycling of food. Seedleaf gardening sites are located throughout food deserts of Lexington’s North and East sides, and community kitchens in these areas host a variety of educational programs. Interns with Seedleaf gain experience working with grassroots, non-profits focused on food security in food deserts, and a variety of activities, from garden-to-table. Contact Seedleaf’s Ryan Koch for more information, and visit the Seedleaf webpage for more information about their great work.