My Nonprofit Reviews

This excellent organization needs your support! Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy is dedicated to ending hunger by addressing its root causes in rising poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation. The Institute debunks major myths (e.g., taken-for-granted assumptions about “free trade”) that obscure the real causes and solutions to hunger, and promotes practical alternatives like food sovereignty, living wage jobs, and peasant-led sustainable agriculture. Through its extensive publishing of compelling research, hosting of community forums and speaking engagements, and participation in activist coalitions and social movements like Via Campesina and the World Social Forum, Food First is helping to mobilize and empower large numbers of people to take effective action to eliminate poverty and hunger. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to complete a policy research internship with Food First from the fall of 2006 to the spring of 2007 as part of the requirements for my M.A. in Anthropology. My responsibility involved conducting research into and writing a report about the role of the World Bank in promoting the expansion of large-scale surface gold mining by foreign corporations in western Ghana and the negative impacts of these activities on the livelihoods and food security of local small-farming communities. The intention of the study was to further Food First’s education-for-action mission by providing information and analysis that may help to strengthen grassroots movements for social justice and sustainable livelihoods in Ghana’s goldbelt. Food First provides interns with a relaxed and friendly work environment, complete with your own office space and computer if you need one. The Executive Director, Eric-Holt-Giménez, was very helpful in providing guidance and feedback for my project. I was also able to get feedback and discuss my work with all the other staff and interns during the weekly staff meetings or during the lunch break. One of the benefits of being a Food First intern is the delicious family-style lunch that is prepared everyday for all the staff and interns. Food First operates in a highly participatory manner and everyone is treated with respect and appreciation for their contribution to the organization. I learned a lot from this experience, not only about my research topic, but also how nonprofit organizations work and often depend on a small number of very dedicated and hard-working staff and volunteers to stay alive. It was an unforgettable experience.

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