Indeed, it is that time of year again, time for Food Corpsrecruitment! You may well remember I wrote about the initial recruitment for the first class of Food Corps service members about a year ago. Well I thought the second year of recruitment deserved its very own post because the organization has done a ton of great work in the past year. If you look at their website alone it becomes quickly apparent that this budding program is here to stay.
So what do you need to know for recruitment this year?
The qualifications for an applicant have not changed, one must be: 18 years or older by the start of service (August 13, 2012), U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or lawful permanent resident of the United States and have a high school diploma, GED or equivalent.
This year's deadline is: March 25, 2012 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time. No late applications will be accepted and FoodCorps recommends you get yours in early to avoid any tech problems that may arise.
The FoodCorps site lists the benefits of being a FoodCorps member for one year of service as:
A $15,000 living allowance
A $5,550 AmeriCorps Segal Education Award
Student loan forbearance
Health insurance
Partial childcare reimbursements
Training and mentorship
Alumni network
The experience of a lifetime
Now, I don't know about you, but all of that sounds pretty great to me (especially that part about student loan forbearance)! As a service member you will be helping teach the future citizens of our nation, children. Everything from gardening to nutrition to how these things relate to math, science, history and more will be explored and taught. Service members will be working nationwide at different types of projects and organizations who are working to educate about and increase access to fresh, healthy food.
This week's Follow Friday (#FF) post is all about my favorite food activists. Thankfully, Twitter has become an important platform for educating the public and creating discussion about the plethora of issues tied to the food we eat. Be it what the latest recall is (all that ground turkey), to how to learn more about the Farm Bill to where young farmers are starting to grow food and provide for this nation-- these are Twitter accounts that will keep you up-to-date on all the moving and shaking in the world of food politics and culinary activism.
@slowfoodusa
@slowfoodnyc- Slow Food is a movement that started in Italy and has been going strong in the US since 1986. Their national Twitter account gives relevant information about the latest issues and progress in food politics. They also tweet about ways people are supporting local food and events that are happening. If you love to eat and you believe in the future of local grown, locally sourced food, following @slowfoodusa is a must. I include the @slowfoodnyc account because it is the Twitter handle for my local chapter.
@marionnestle -The grand dame of Food Politics herself, Marion Nestle is always up to date with what is happening on the political side of food. Her opinion is sought out for most topics about food- from recalls to regulations to information about the farm bill. She is a great resource and anyone who eats should know who she is. If you don't follow her blog, Food Politics, you should be following her on Twitter as she tweets links when she has new posts as well as links to other pertinent news stories.
I first heard about Food Corps through a tweet from Mark Bittman back in the spring of 2010. Reading the article on Bittman's site from Paula Crossfield (of Civil Eats) I could tell Food Corps would develop into something amazing. Immediately I signed-up for their newsletter and started receiving information about the planning conference calls being held monthly. Unfortunately all the calls began at 5pm and I couldn't participate. I made sure to keep my eye out for and new information, hopeful to be a involved once the program was fully established.
So what is Food Corps exactly? Paula Crossfield did a great job summarizing the program in the introductory article: [...] FoodCorps, an AmeriCorps program that would put service members to work building school gardens and establishing farm-to-school relationships in towns across the United States, specifically in places where people lack access to fresh produce. A collaboration between the National Farm to School Network, Slow Food USA and other groups, the FoodCorps program could begin as early as 2011. (source)
Finally the time has come! Momentum for the program has been non-stop since this past fall: Food Corps announced its host sites on November 30th, began circulating their recruitment video the first week in February and finally went live with their member application on February 8th! Application deadline is April 10, 2011 at 5:00pm EST.
Check out the Recruitment Video:
Food Corps is going to be great! Get involved! Apply! Let's start a strong and true food revolution all across America!
So what do you need to know for recruitment this year? 
