KINGSTON, R.I. – Jan. 22, 2025 – Are you an agricultural producer? A nutrition or public health professional? A policymaker or food justice advocate? Local businesses and organizations are invited to connect with the University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension to learn about ways to support the Rhode Island Agriculture and Food Systems Fellows Program as a mentor, educational partner, program sponsor, or summer industry training host.

Local businesses and organizations can help the program offer broader experiential learning experiences for students in a variety of ways, from site visits and guest lectures to sponsoring gear and mentoring student fellows.

The Rhode Island Agriculture and Food Systems Fellows Program started in 2022 as a way to train students passionate about careers centered on localizing our food system, and to help serve as a talent pipeline into food-related fields.

Students are placed with food industry mentors based on the students’ skills and interests. Last year, the program mapped urban foodways, introduced producers to food safety best practices, helped to expand a local kelp aquaculture production operation, explored how to boost the use of local food in school meals, and tackled the food waste issue through education and composting with organizations including Earth Care Farm, Ocean Hour Farm, the Rhode Island Farm to School Network, Our Kids Farm, Farm Fresh RI, Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, Plantopia, Rhody Wild Sea Gardens, Rhode Island’s Department of Environmental Management, and the Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District’s AgInnovation Farm.

The program hopes to increase representation from all parts of the state, especially the Blackstone Valley.

Students in the fellowship learn there’s more to the food industry than what they see on the table — it’s growing food of all kinds, along with processing, marketing and policy.

Caitlin Mandel is a Farm to Child Nutrition Program specialist at the Rhode Island Department of Education, and got involved last year as a program sponsor.

“URI Cooperative Extension is a wonderful partner for our R.I. Farm to School Network,” she says. “They have many incredible programs that make our work possible. We can always use extra help and brain power on our projects and it’s wonderful to work with college students; they are learning the latest in food systems and sustainability research and can help bring a fresh perspective to our programs.”

“Our program benefited tremendously by partnering with the R.I. Agriculture and Food Systems Fellows Program last year,” Mandel says. “We launched a brand-new intensive training opportunity and our fellow was instrumental in helping us do this successfully. The program is a wonderful way to get dedicated support for your project or organization’s goals.”

After hosting a student fellow, Ben Robbins in the URI Greenhouse echoes that praise for the students selected for the program: “There’s always something that needs to be done so it was a win-win. I would definitely urge other industries and businesses to partner with URI for the fellowship program. These students are dedicated, eager, motivated, and passionate about agriculture and making an impact.”

Chemical engineering major Natalia Oganesian ’25 says the program gave her the chance to connect with industry professionals and understand how her academic studies fit into larger agricultural and food system challenges. She got to work at local food business incubator Hope & Main in Warren and was mentored by Caitlin Jamison of Plantopia.

“It was exciting to see the crossover between site visits and the work I was doing. It highlighted the practical applications of what we were learning,” Oganesian says.

Kate Venturini Hardesty, program administrator at URI Cooperative Extension, says, “We are proud to offer the Agriculture and Food Systems Fellows Program to URI and CCRI students as a way to prepare them for meaningful, impactful careers in food system science and policy. The program honors the founding mission of URI and the land grant university system, and students are enthusiastic about being part of it.”

“We are always looking for program sponsors,” she adds, “to allow us to offer broader learning experiences for students. There are a variety of ways that companies or organizations can partner with us, even if they don’t have the resources to be a full sponsor or pay students themselves. Companies can support the program by signing on as a mentor organization, or even being a site host for a summer industry training session.”

The program is funded through 2026 by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

URI Cooperative Extension also offers and operates a popular and well-known Energy Fellows program, established in 2008 to engage and train students passionate about careers in sustainable energy. Sponsors and partners are also welcome for that program. Learn more here.

URI Cooperative Extension welcomes interest from local organizations and businesses to work with future cohorts of the R.I. Agriculture and Food Systems Fellows Program. Learn more at uri.edu/coopext/afsfp or contact Hardesty for information at keventurini@uri.edu, 401-874-4096.