I’m excited to announce one my adventures for this semester: I’ll be interning at Roaring Brook Market & Cafe.
And I’ll be chronicling my interning here on Gastronomic Permaculture.
Roaring Brook is a new breed of food business. They’re a social purpose driven market and cafe in the heart of the city. They aim to bolster the local community and local economy, plus increase connectivity between producers and customers. About 80% of their suppliers are from within a 50 mile radius of the (bright, beautiful, welcoming) storefront.
I cannot believe my luck.
Roaring Brook opened their doors just a few months before I contacted Sarah McGahran, one of the owners. I was looking for a business to intern at in the city – somewhere that was part of the emerging local food and sustainability scene. Somehow I found Roaring Brook – I don’t remember how, but thank goodness I did.
This week – my first week – Sarah, another intern and myself have been dissecting Roaring Brook’s mission statement to create a more succinct and widely accessible version. It’s not an easy task. The original mission statement is heavy with jargon. Which is all well and good…if the jargon is something you’re familiar with. There’s a certain trendiness to what Roaring Brook is doing, although it’s still unusual, and so some of the concepts that are honestly their core values are also buzz words. Sarah wanted to re-craft the statement so there’s no mistaking what they mean. Three particular words we worked on: local, transparent and sustainable.
Another project from this week: writing up a producer spotlight. I’ve been working on one for East Indies Teas because there from Lebanon, PA and I am completely in love with their products. They make the finest earl grey and green loose leaf I’ve had in my entire life so far. And I drink a lot of tea. I’ve vowed to taste every flavor Roaring Brook carries.
My internship is one facet of a larger project. It’s actually a rather massive project, spanning multiple semesters. But you’ll hear more about that soon…
In short, we’re very excited about the things that are to come.
Logo design belongs to Roaring Brook Market & Cafe. Photograph by me.