Weavers Way Farms, Distribution Assistant, 2023

Henry Got Crops Farm (Saul High School)

Job Title: Distribution Assistant (two positions available)

Purpose: To assist with product distribution and sale of Weavers Way Farms produce, including harvesting at the Henry Got Crops site, assisting at the farm market, and the CSA. This position is ideal for someone who has one or two years of farm apprenticeship/internship experience, produce retail experience, and is looking to deepen and broaden their farming and farm market skills at a community-centric, urban, production farm.

Duties/Responsibilities:

On harvest days (Mondays and Thursdays), the distribution assistant is responsible for supporting the field manager in harvesting activities, including high quality control and efficient harvesting and washing, weighing, labeling, packing and rotating produce in a walk-in refrigerator. When farm market vendors make deliveries on harvest days (when the market is closed for business) the Distribution Assistant is responsible for receiving and properly storing perishable products.

On CSA and Farm Market days (Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays), the assistant will primarily be responsible for supporting the farm market manager in farm market operations including: maintaining grocery and produce displays; providing excellent customer service and sharing information with shoppers about Weavers Way Co-op and its farms, CSA program, and its partnership with W.B. Saul Agricultural High School; performing cashiering duties such as accurate and efficient processing of various forms of payment (cash, credit cards, free produce vouchers, etc.); signing up new co-op members; and following front-end opening and closing procedures.

Additionally, on CSA and Farm Market days, the assistant will be responsible for working independently on various tasks related to the operation of these two outlets and assisting the volunteers involved. The following is a list of tasks that will be divided up between the two distribution assistants, based on interest, skill set and practicality. It is not an exhaustive list, other similar tasks might be added, based on the evolving nature of safely distributing food during a pandemic and resulting work load for the team:

• Cleaning up the CSA, including inventorying leftover produce, practicing strict quality control and packing up orders
• Serving as the initial point person for customer and volunteer questions pertaining to the CSA
• Setting up the farm market
• Signing CSA and farm market volunteers into their shifts through the co-op’s online Member Center
• Assisting with inventorying
• Contributing content to the CSA e-newsletter as needed
• General daily cleaning and organizing

Administrative Tasks: logging harvest pounds, occasional handling of emails related to volunteer shifts, signing and coding invoices

Minimum Qualifications: A full season (spring, summer, fall) farming and/or working at a farm market or in food retail. Must provide up-to-date child abuse clearance and clear PA background check (the farm is located on the campus of a high school).

Schedule/Hours: Assistant is expected to work 4 or 5 days a week, at the Henry Got Crops location, averaging 32 to 40 hours per week. We are hiring for two positions. The schedule includes an evening once a week and potentially weekends.

Compensation/Benefits: This is an hourly paid position, starting at $15.50/hour, entry level staff are eligible for a $0.50 raise after 6 months. Eligible for Weaver Way Co-op benefits. Farm staff are welcome to have produce grown on the farms, and receive a staff discount and working member discount of 15% at Weavers Way Coop’s locations, including the Henry Got Crops farm market. Any hours worked over 40 hours/week are subject to overtime rate (time and a half).

Reports to: Farm Manager/Farm Department Head

To Apply: Submit cover letter, resume and application through WW Website. Application deadline is midnight, Sunday Dec 4th, 2022; but applicants are encouraged to apply early.

For questions, please contact Farm Manager Nina Berryman at nberryman@weaversway.coop

About Weavers Way Farms:

Weavers Way has two farm sites in Northwest Philadelphia, located a few miles apart from one another. The farm sites consist of a 2 acre farm at the Awbury Arboretum (the Mort Brooks Memorial Farm), and a 3 acre farm at Saul High School (the Henry Got Crops farm), as well as a 1.5 acre fruit, nut and berry orchard adjacent to the Henry Got Crops farm at Saul. The farms are a part of Weavers Way Coop, a 10,000 member, community owned market with locations in Mt Airy and Chestnut Hill, Ambler and soon to be in Germantown. Both farms offer experience with small scale, diversified, no-till organic farming and the opportunity to develop skills in greenhouse production, season extension, pest management, planting, weeding, harvesting, farm market experience, as well as volunteer management. Each farm grows a unique set of vegetables, few of which are duplicated at the other farm. The harvests of the two farms are coordinated in order to satisfy our existing outlets. Each farm position will focus most of their time at one of the two sites, yet we all work in conjunction with one another, as one team. Produce from the two farms is sold at the three Co-op stores, our Henry Got Crops CSA, our on-site farm market, the cafeteria at Saul High School and occasionally a few restaurants in Northwest Philadelphia as well as. The Henry Got Crops site also hosts the education programs of our affiliated non-profit, Food Moxie. The Henry Got Crops farm is located right on the campus of Saul High School and through the facilitation of Food Moxie, teachers and their classes come to the farm on a regular basis and are involved in the operations of the farm.

For more information about Weavers Way Co-op and our farms, please visit www.weaversway.coop

Physical Requirement and Timeline Commitment:

Field Assistant is expected to commit to a minimum of one growing season, from late April through November. You should be able to work under adverse conditions (heat, humidity, cold, rain), be able to lift 50 lbs, and be physically able to perform repetitive movements such as twisting and bending for light-duty tasks.

Skills/Attributes:

Strong candidates must: be team-oriented but able to work independently; have excellent communication skills; be flexible and calm in quickly-changing and fast-paced work environments (in the field and a retail setting); have a strong work ethic and willingness to get dirty; possess the ability and desire to work with students and supervise volunteers of all ages and abilities; deliver consistently high levels of customer service to customers; have a sharp attention to detail and employ superb quality control skills; possess good mental math skills. Ideal candidates will have excellent organization skills and have an enthusiasm for a well-organized, tidy walk-in refrigerator!