When I started this internship I had just graduated from university. I had read everything I could find on local food and wanted to start actually getting local food to people. It was also before I realized how complicated and how many moving parts there are in the local food system. I am not sure that I had any idea what I was getting into. I had no clue that I had just stumbled into the best local food organization/co-op in Denver with the most passionate and knowledgeable people that keep the entire operation running.
Earlier this year, what I was doing felt abstract and ambiguous. It felt like all I did was got to meetings and events to connect with other organizations and community members. We talked about many things, but none of 
them felt tangible. Now as the summer begins to come to a close, everything seems to be coming together. The network of co-ops and the regional food distribution system that we had been discussing at all of those meetings is beginning to form.
As all of the projects I have been working on have grown and changed I have had to take on many different roles. I have taken on more of the social media and marketing for the co-op. I have also been an ambassador for the co-op at many events, introducing people to the cooperative lifestyle. I have also become the logistics coordinator, which just means I have to carry my clipboard around with me everywhere, to make sure all of our wholesale products get where they 
need to go. This also has put me in the position of delivery driver at times and an egg packer at others.
My first internship is coming to a close, but I am excited to start my next internship with Ogallala Commons and the High Plains Food Co-op. This next internship will begin with figuring out the expansion of the Senior Bundle Program, where we deliver bags of fresh produce to senior centers in Northwest Kansas. I am also going to be launching my own project that I have been planning for the last few months called FarmCycle.
