Summer students are learning new skills at Community Food Centres
July 13, 2026
Summer student Amelia Metcalfe at one of the garden sites run by The Table CFC.
It’s summer and it’s lunchtime on a Friday. At The Table Community Food Centre (CFC) in Perth, Ontario, that means the community garden volunteers are enjoying a shared lunch. Joining them is Program Assistant Amelia Metcalfe, a summer student at the CFC. Like other summer students at CFCs around the country, Amelia has been learning new skills and helping the CFC to further its impact in the community.
This year, 11 of the 18 CFCs are offering summer student jobs, with the number of roles ranging from two students at The Table CFC to ten students at Roots CFC. During the busy growing season, summer students give CFCs an important staffing boost. As Joey Wright, Community Chef at The Table CFC, says, “Any time there’s extra human resources, we benefit instantly. Everything runs more smoothly.”
Learning skills in the kitchen and garden
Working 35 hours a week over 8 weeks, Amelia splits her time between the CFC’s kitchen and garden sites. Along the way, she’s been developing many skills.
In the garden, where she’s supervised by Community Garden Coordinator Joanna Kowalczyk, Amelia plants seeds, waters and harvests plants, and has even been learning how to make organic fertilizers with fermented yeast and molasses (“It’s really fun!” she says). In the kitchen, where she’s supervised by Joey, she helps prepare community meals and greets meal attendees. She also enjoys the crossover between the kitchen and the garden. “Joey might say, ‘We need flat-leaf parsley,’ and I say, ‘I got you!’ and I run out to the garden.”
Amelia helps prepare a community meal at The Table CFC.
Pursuing social justice interests through food
Being a summer student at the CFC brings together some of Amelia’s strongest social justice interests. She’s doing a Master of Education in Social Justice Education and has long been interested in community building, poverty, and our relationship with the land. “I feel like where all that intersects is food justice.”
Food justice is a movement that considers the deeply rooted inequities within food systems, including disparities in how food is grown and accessed. For this reason, the CFC’s community garden programs piqued Amelia’s interest. “I was really focused this year on the gardening aspects of food justice. And then I saw the summer student role, and I was like, ‘This is exactly what I want right now.’”
Going ahead, Amelia wants to forge a career in the community food sector. Working at The Table CFC has been an inspiring step in that direction. “The Table is amazing. I would love to continue learning about vegetable gardening and running community programs. This is definitely what I want to be doing.”
Amelia with Joey Wright, Community Chef at The Table CFC.
The highlight: Food connects and nourishes
Five weeks into her role, Amelia says there have already been many highlights. But above all, she singles out the Friday lunches with the community garden volunteers. Together, they enjoy a salad containing produce from the CFC’s garden.
“We all eat together as a big group with fresh food, and I feel that’s what it’s about, right? We’re connecting with each other and making sure we’re nourishing our bodies.”
Learn more about Community Food Centres across the country.
