Open Position: Gardening, Cooking, and Food Educator

(20 hours/week)

Job Overview

Midwest Food Connection is seeking a passionate educator to join our team and inspire young people to deepen their relationship with food in ways that benefit their bodies, their communities, and the earth. Midwest Food Connection works with about 40 schools in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, annually reaching 4,000 students in grades K-8.

Our extensive and award-winning curriculum covers topics from whole grains to local produce to immigrant cuisines. We blend storytelling, cooking, art, gardening, and culture to educate young people about how food, and our relationship with food, can lead to a better future.

Because of the frequency with which our lessons are taught, and the variety and diversity of classroom settings in which we teach, Midwest Food Connection strives to continuously improve and update our lessons to effectively address present-day issues and topics. We welcome new ideas and creativity in enhancing our curriculum to most effectively engage students and meet the needs of the communities we serve.

The successful candidate will bring positive energy into classroom visits and provide interactive lessons that help youth

  • Develop a love for wholesome, locally-grown foods
  • Understand how to take care of the earth by becoming good stewards of the environment
  • Build valuable life skills such as cooking, gardening, shopping wisely, and thinking critically about food systems

Primary Job Duties and Responsibilities

  • Teach an established curriculum to students in our partner schools
  • Independently prepare materials and lesson plans for classroom instruction
  • Collaborate with other Midwest Food Connection staff around curriculum development
  • Maintain and build relationships with classroom teachers
  • Establish and maintain positive relationships with parents
  • Consider ways to collaborate with school district nutrition programs, after-school care, school community liaisons, and local food shelves to reach families and deepen the community’s understanding of the connection between food and health

Required Experience and Qualifications

  • Experience with elementary- and/or middle-school-aged children

  • Passion for food, cooking, and/or gardening

  • Comfort collaborating with and deepening relationships with our community partners

  • Ability to work independently, manage own time, and balance multiple projects without direct supervision

  • Lived or professional experience working with communities of color and/ or other marginalized communities

  • Proficient in a language other than English (preferred)

Essential Skills

  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
  • Comfortable with public speaking and teaching in a classroom setting

Additional Requirements

  • Ability to provide your own transportation to and from schools, grocery stores, and meeting sites, as needed. Mileage is reimbursed.
  • Availability of home office and storage for teaching supplies 

Start-date

October 2023

Salary

$20,000-23,000

Instead of working year-round, this hire may opt to take summers off and receive a pro-rated 10-month salary.

Benefits

Organization-wide time off including federal holidays and winter/spring breaks. Flexible schedule. Health and Dental care, with 70% of premiums paid. Contributions to retirement account.

How to Apply

Send resume to [email protected]. In lieu of a cover letter, please include 1-2 paragraphs introducing yourself and telling us what interests you about this position. The deadline for applications is September 15, 2023.

Midwest Food Connection is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, veteran status or disability.

Midwest Food Connection is grateful to the land and waters of Mni Sota Makoce for the nourishment and abundance they provide for us. We respect the earth and all its creatures that walk and crawl and fly and swim. We honor our ancestors, whose shoulders we stand upon, acknowledging both the gifts and transgressions they have passed down to us. We are conscious of the fact that we live on lands that were taken violently from the Dakota people and that despite genocidal actions taken to eradicate them from this state, they and other native tribes continue to live in dignity, to struggle, and to thrive, on these lands today. By offering this land acknowledgment, Midwest Food Connection moves forward to enact its mission to inspire young people to deepen their relationship with food and value earth’s bounty.