Careers - The Good Acre

Careers @ TGA

Lend your valuable skills to a worthy cause.

Joining The Good Acre means becoming part of a dedicated team working together to create a positive impact on our local food system. If you’re seeking a meaningful opportunity to use your skills and make a difference, you’ve come to the right place.

Diversity & Inclusion

We will most successfully advance the mission of The Good Acre if our leadership and staff reflect the communities and stakeholders we serve. We are committed to being a diverse and inclusive place to work.

The Good Acre is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we welcome all to apply. We are committed to being a diverse, inclusive, and equitable organization and we do not discriminate against employees or applicants based on race, sexual orientation, religion, gender identity, disability, or any other characteristics protected by applicable law.

TGA Benefits

Enjoy a range of benefits when you work at The Good Acre, including:

Comprehensive coverage for employees and their dependents through BenefitsMN, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits’ Healthcare Plan
Access to group plans for dental, vision, whole life insurance, and short-term disability
Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
A robust retirement plan, offering both 403(b) and ROTH options through ALERUS Financial, with an employer match
Ample PTO to ensure a healthy work-life balance

Current Openings @ TGA

Grower Support Specialist

Position Title: Grower Support Specialist

Status: Full-time, seasonal

Reports to: Director of Grower Support

Applications due: April, 28, 2024

Start Date: June 3, 2024

Summary

The Good Acre (TGA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to unlock economic opportunity for farmers in our region through a unique combination of personalized support and market development. Our programs are designed to help improve market opportunities for small, local farmers, giving more people greater access to healthy produce and strengthening our local food economy.

Under the direct supervision of the Director of Grower Support (DGS), the Grower Support Specialist (GSS) is responsible for receiving deliveries, documenting the delivery and providing information and feedback to LEAFF (Local Emergency Assistance Farmer Fund) farmers. LEAFF is a program that purchases fresh produce from BIPOC farmers and donates it to hunger relief organizations throughout the Twin Cities Metro area. LEAFF at TGA functions as a wholesale readiness program that can lead to meaningful commitments to buy contracted produce from the farm as they progress through a tiered wholesale readiness program. This position will be responsible for overseeing the movement of produce from the farm delivery vehicle to the coolers at TGA. The person in this position will document the farm delivery, give feedback to the farm about product quality, delivery logistics, packing standards and help guide the farm’s progression to becoming ready for wholesale contracts. This role works closely with the farmers in our wholesale readiness program (LEAFF), to identify challenges and opportunities week to week throughout the growing season. Much of the weekly feedback and support will be tailored to the farm’s needs, and will require farm visits, language interpretation and connecting them to needed resources on a case by case basis, which will be carried out by other members of the grower support team.

Responsibilities

Inbound Receiving & On Dock Technical Assistance

Receive deliveries and assist with unloading from the farm vehicles during receiving hours.
Verify produce type, packaging standards, and quality, accurately count boxes and check against farm invoice, create Pick Order within receiving system
Record the delivery into the system and record anything that does not meet pack standards or is rejected.
Identify the farms’ next delivery; when they plan to bring it in and how much. Relay that information onto the Demand and Procurement Manager as needed.
Support farm partners in completing on-site purchases of packaging material, and gather material for those who are purchasing.
Notify the Grower Support team of any opportunities for technical assistance or farm visits, based on unmet product standards, inabilities to meet fulfillment, logistical problems, and direct requests from the farm.
Follow all operations team protocols on labeling, put up times and invoice handling.
Assist the operations team with needs around food hub operations.

Administration and Program Development

Maintain up-to-date and accurate data on the farm’s fulfillment rate and product quality. Data entry into TGA receiving system
Attend farm visits to gain a better understanding of the farm’s capabilities, capacity, root causes of product standard problems, and resource needs as needed.
Work with the GS team to document and develop a file of the farm’s current state, to be updated over their lifespan at TGA.
Understand and communicate the need for FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) training opportunities and the actionable aspects of farm-level food safety and post-harvest handling practices.
Work with the GS team to implement wholesale readiness, food safety, product standards training and educational videos.

Minimum Qualifications

Commitment to The Good Acre’s mission
Must be able to repeatedly lift 40-pounds to shoulder-height
Familiarity with most produce, including Asian and African specialty crops
Be comfortable and accurate with counting, multiplication, and adding
Strong communication skills
Familiarity with Google suite of applications
Ability to work independently as well as being a supportive team player
Must have a valid driver’s license

Desired Qualifications

Fluent in spoken Hmong, or Spanish
Produce Farming/post-harvest handling experience
Warehouse experience
Comfortable working with people from different cultures
2 years of vegetable production, or vegetable handling experience

Compensation

Pay is $17-20/hour, depending on experience. Eight-hour shifts will vary between 6:30a – 2:30p and 8:00a – 4:00p Monday through Friday.

Application instructions

Please send a resume or list of relevant experiences to jobs@thegoodacre.org. In your email, please answer two questions:

What excites you about working with local farmers?
Is there anything from your resume or past experience that will make you extra successful in this role?

Application deadline is Sunday, April 28th. Interviews will take place between Monday, May 6 and Friday, May 10. An offer will be made no later than May 16. Start date on Monday, June 3.

The Good Acre is an equal opportunity employer and we welcome all to apply. We are committed to being a diverse, inclusive, and equitable organization.

Food Hub Operations Specialist

Position Title: Food Hub Operations Specialist

Status: Full-time, seasonal

Reports to: Food Hub Operations Manager

Applications due: April, 28, 2024

Start Date: June 3, 2024

Summary

The Food Hub Operations Specialist will work with the Operations Team in all aspects of shipping and receiving, provide up-to-date order confirmations and communication, and maintain a safe and clean facility.

Responsibilities

Receive and check product quality on incoming deliveries
Enter incoming shipments and data into the receiving log.
Stack, wrap, label, and stage outgoing orders.
Regular communication with the Food Hub Operations Manager.
Learn and practice TGA’s Food Safety Plan and protocols.
Perform outgoing deliveries from TGA to its customers, in a safe and timely manner following all federal and state traffic laws.
Ensure cleanliness of facilities and vehicles.

Requirements

Must be able to lift 50 lbs regularly
Must be able to stand and perform manual labor for 4+ hours
Some knowledge of MN-grown produce varieties
Valid Minnesota Driver’s license; excellent driving record
Comfortable using computer-based customer relationship management (CRM) system
(Preferred) Experience using a forklift and electric pallet jack
(Preferred) Fluency in Hmong or Spanish

Compensation

Pay is $17-20/hour, depending on experience. Eight-hour shifts will vary between 6:30a – 2:30p and 8:00a – 4:00p Monday through Friday.

Application instructions

Please send a resume or list of relevant experiences to jobs@thegoodacre.org. In your email, please answer two questions:

What excites you about working with local farmers?
Is there anything from your resume or past experience that will make you extra successful in this role?

Application deadline is Sunday, April 28th. Interviews will take place between Monday, May 6 and Friday, May 10. An offer will be made no later than May 16. Start date on Monday, June 3.

The Good Acre is an equal opportunity employer and we welcome all to apply. We are committed to being a diverse, inclusive, and equitable organization.

Coming soon!

employee testimonials

Hear from TGA Team Members

"If you are looking for a supportive, dynamic team and organization that values your skills and expertise we are your people!"

"A lot of things have kept me at TGA for seven years and counting, but two of them stand out: the impact we get to have, and the people who work here. I'm proud that TGA is playing a big part in changing whose food shows up on lunch trays, patient meals, and food shelf offerings. And the people I get to work with every day are not only inspiring but also really, really fun."

"We are not interested in settling for our current food system! Our team is deeply passionate about advancing opportunities and market access for farmers of color in our state."