This position is now filled as of March 7, 2019.
Looking for a farm job on Vancouver Island? Merville Organics in Merville, BC is hiring a CSA & Farmers Market Coordinator for the 2019 season!
About Merville Organics
Merville Organics Growers Co-operative is a co-op of 4 small farms located in Merville and north Courtenay in the Comox Valley, working together to sell our produce at the Comox Valley Farmers Market and through a popular Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Our farms are all Certified Organic or Transitional to Organic through Islands Organic Producers Association (IOPA). We are passionate about food security and sustainability in the Comox Valley, increasing the accessibility of local, organic produce to everyone in our community, and collaborating to support each other and our farm businesses.
Desired Qualities
- A skilled communicator who’s friendly and fun, and passionate about food (growing it, cooking it, or hopefully both!)
- Some organic farming or food-growing experience. We need someone who knows their veggies and can answer customer questions about what something is, how it’s grown, and how to eat it.
- Driving experience, preferably 10 years or more. Must have your own vehicle to get to our hub farm in Merville.
- Valid FoodSafe or MarketSafe certificate, or be willing to get either one (required for working at the Farmers Market).
- Comfort with using and troubleshooting Excel spreadsheets.
- Good writing skills for email communications with customers and CSA newsletter.
- Excellent customer service skills and energy for 4 days/week of in-person customer interactions.
- Punctuality and good time management. CSA pickups run on a set schedule that both we and our customers have committed to.
- Ability to do heavy lifting (up to 40 pounds) and work outdoors in all weather – CSA pickups and markets are outside and run rain or shine.
Job Tasks
- Using our Excel spreadsheet to put together CSA boxes each week and allocate harvest numbers to each farm for both CSA and markets.
- Email communications with CSA customers and some prep for weekly CSA newsletter.
- Communicating regularly with multiple farmers via text and email.
- Sorting and packing produce for multiple CSA pickup locations.
- Staffing 3 CSA pickups each week (3 different locations).
- Helping out at the Saturday Farmers Market.
Job Details
Term: This position runs for the duration of our Summer CSA program, from mid-June to end of September. Paid training will be a few hours a week from mid-April to June and will include a bit of work on each of our farms, so you can get to know each co-op member and see how each farm is run. This is important as you will be a link between our CSA customers and our farms.
Wage: Wage is $15/hour plus a weekly CSA veggie box.
Hours: Roughly 26 hrs/week
Schedule:
- Monday – approx. 2 hours midday for planning CSA box, harvest allocation, newsletter prep, and communications. Can be done from home if desired. Timing is flexible.
- Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday – approx. 1pm-7pm for email communications, sorting and packing produce, driving to and staffing a CSA pickup, and returning to hub farm to unload vehicle.
- Saturday – market runs from 9am-1pm, will ideally include helping load and unload van at hub farm before and after.
- Thursdays and Sundays off.
To Apply
Please send a resume and tell us a bit about yourself to mervilleorganics@gmail.com
Deadline: Application deadline is March 10, 2019.
Learn More About Merville Organics
Website: www.mervilleorganics.ca
Facebook: facebook.com/mervilleorganics
Instagram: @mervilleorganics
View other farm jobs and apprenticeships here.