Hello!
My name is Carlee and I’ll be working with Seacoast Eat Local on the Mobile Market this summer! I first heard about this opportunity two years ago through my mom, she said “it would be a great fit for you!”. Now, my mom is always recommending things to me, TEDtalks, recipes, movies, jobs.. the list goes on. So to be honest, I didn’t pay much mind when she suggested the intern program with Seacoast Eat Local two summers ago. A few months after this bit of advice from my mom, I was accepted into an Americorps program in San Antonio, Texas. In one week I packed up all my stuff and headed south to spend a year volunteering in a ninth and tenth grade english classroom. While I was there I learned the importance of education as a level playing field and the impact nutrition and diet has on student performance. During my time as an Americorps member living off a government stipend, myself and everyone else in the program were enrolled in the SNAP program, receiving government financial aid for food supplies. After completing my year with Americorps in June, I threw everything into my rattly old car and began the 2,000 mile drive back home to New Hampshire.
One hot and aimless summer passed and last August I enrolled at my current school. This past spring I took a class that was titled “Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems” it was here that my interest in food equity was piqued, and I remembered what my mom had said about the Seacoast Eat Local Internship. I returned to the website and read the intern job description and I was filled with excitement. I thankfully decided to apply and after a month or so was accepted into the program!
Ive always been in love with food, growing food, cooking food, eating food. It is the most commonly shared human experience, it has the power to shape conversation, communities and lives! I am so happy to be working close by the people and situations that give food the positive transformational powers it has. This love affair of mine has lead me to exploring the medicinal benefits of food and herbs, so in addition to working with Seacoast Eat Local this summer I’ll also be completing an herbalism apprenticeship at Misty Meadows Herbal Center in Lee NH.
Seacoast Eat Local is an organization that embodies a lot of the values that I hold dear, one of which is increasing access to fresh healthy foods to communities that don’t have farmers markets. This is an incredibly important program that I am glad to be a part of. This summer I look forward to sharing good conversation and information with our customers during stops. As a former SNAP recipient and community member I look forward to seeing the positive impact firsthand that programs like the mobile market have on our communities. I hope to see you out there!