Island Grown Initiative is located down a long dirt road in Vineyard Haven, where numerous fields, livestock and long rows of produce are the main attraction.

On a recent misty afternoon, a group of summer interns and their educators ate lunch beside a tool shed and communal garden. After the meal it was time to glean cabbage and kohlrabi from the fields. 

Intern Jack Baer pointed to a hummingbird flying near some flowers and huge radishes.

“One of the best things about being here is the amount of free food we get,” he said.

Island Gown Initiative started in 2006 with a mission to help sustain the Vineyard’s food systems. In the nearly two decades since, the organization has grown and adapted, reaching nearly all aspects of the local food web, including helping the entire community through its gleaning program, work with the Food Pantry and Island Grown Schools, to name just a few of its programs.

The IGI internship program began in 2011 and has been an important part of the organization’s educational outreach. The model is based on a food justice organization in Boston called the Food Projects Internship. 

“About four years ago, after a bit of a break, we felt like it was time to bring it back and set it up again,” said Emily Armstrong, the education director at IGI. “After approaching Slough Farm, with whom we work on so many things, we were able to.”

Slough Farm is located in Katama and partners with numerous organizations around the Island.

Since starting up again, the demand for the program has grown. This year, more than 12 teenagers applied for four spots.

“It’s a nice mix of local and visiting kids, although this year we have all locals,” said Ms. Armstrong. “We’ve had a few kids start gardens at their schools, so it’s great to have these connections.”

Although a few of the interns had worked on farms before, others are newcomers to the soil.

“I’ve never done any farming before, so I thought it would be interesting,” Maria Baros said. “When I saw the poster at school, I just thought, why not?”

So far, the interns and their educators, Sam Greene and Maggie Benoit, have visited Whippoorwill Farm and Slough Farm.

“We get to look around so that we can see the different forms of farming and how they do things,” said intern Emme Carroll

“We do what needs to be done, they give us a task and we do that and help them,” added intern Wren Robertson.

The interns also help out at the Food Pantry and introduce members of the Boys and Girls club to the work of IGI.

“We aim to have these kids doing super meaningful work,” Ms. Armstrong said. “They are the ones growing and distributing the food.”

She pointed to an herb spiral the interns made as an example of how they have given back to the organization.

“This would have taken me weeks to rebuild, and having a crew of very able-bodied people come in and do it in half an hour is amazing,” she said.

Each year, at the end of the summer, the interns come up with ideas for their capstone project. In past years, they have created a watercolor brochure of plants and pollinators and a drying rack for produce. 

The brainstorming has already begun for this summer. 

“We’re trying to make a bicycle blender,” Wren said. “The blender will be powered through riding the bike and pedaling it. We also want to make some natural dyes.”

The internship puts the students to work in the IGI kitchen as well, cooking food and learning new recipes, making the experience a full circle one, from growing produce to creating meals and eating them.

“The goal is at the end for them to come up with something that summarizes what they’ve learned and give back to the farm in a way,” said Ms. Armstrong. “It is about coming together and doing meaningful work. This internship makes it easy to plug the interns into this food system experience so that they’re seeing what local food production on the Island looks like.”