Cultivating North Carolina’s Local Food Systems: My Journey as an Intern With the NC State Extension Local Food Program
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Collapse ▲Post written by Anne Elise Russell
Hey! I’m Anne Elise (they/them), a new graduate of Appalachian State University with a B.A. in Sustainable Development and a passion for equitable food systems. This summer, as part of the 2024 CEFS intern cohort, I’ve had the pleasure of working with the NC State Extension Local Food Program (LFP) and the North Carolina Farmers Market Network (NCFMN) to create resources and programming that aim to inspire North Carolinians across the state to cultivate their local food systems.
Many of the major projects I’ve been involved with have focused on farmers market operations and ensuring that farmers market managers have the information and resources they need to create thriving markets. Prior to this internship, I had a relatively naive understanding of what it takes to run a successful farmers market—you just pop up a few tents in an empty parking lot, right? However, collaborating with NCFMN members to design an online resource library for farmers market managers (check it out here!), I learned that so much planning, organization, and dedication occurs behind the scenes to make our farmers markets run smoothly.
National Farmers Market Week at the Watauga County Farmers Market during their 50th year!
I’ve also been working closely with my supervisor, Hannah Dankbar, LFP Manager, to create an online asynchronous certification course for beginning farmers market managers. The course aims to give new managers a strong foundation on which to cultivate their farmers market to ensure long-lasting success. Throughout the process of designing this course, I have noticed a significant increase in my self-confidence. As a new grad, I have been reckoning with feelings of imposter syndrome about my entrance into the professional world. However, designing the certification course curriculum from scratch without prior experience made me realize that I have the capability to do things I never thought I was qualified for.
On Fridays throughout the summer, I met with the rest of the CEFS intern cohort to attend professional development sessions covering everything from equity in the food system to developing strong resumes and cover letters for future job opportunities. We also went on farm tours around the state to see what different parts of NC’s food system look like. The professional development sessions and farm tours helped me learn more about the challenges present in real-world food systems work. Although I learned about food systems in school, most of my classes focused on large-scale global food systems, so it was illuminating to learn about the difficulties that are more applicable to small-scale local food systems and the solutions that can be implemented to mitigate these difficulties.
As my internship winds down, I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve had this summer to work in North Carolina’s local food systems. I have learned so much about farmers markets, Extension services, and the behind-the-scenes work that it takes to keep our food systems running, which has strengthened my interest in a career in food systems. I am excited to carry what I’ve learned this summer into my future professional, academic, and personal endeavors and hope to continue to collaborate with NC State Extension to cultivate North Carolina’s local foods.