Food Works is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a sustainable food economy in Southern Illinois. At the time I worked there, they funded and maintained four main food and farming programs: Southern Illinois Farming Alliance (SIFA), Southern Illinois Farm Beginnings (SIFB), Carbondale Community Farmers Market (CCFM), and administrative assistance to help set up the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Linked Up Illinois at regional farmers markets. They now run a Mobile Market as well!

I started as a market assistant in CCFM, helping vendors set up, running transactions for customers with and without SNAP/EBT, and collecting surveys. I quickly expanded to a communications role, designing graphics for SIFA events and e-newsletters, consulting on their website revamp, and serving as tech support for the SIFB meetings.