food internships

The Culinary Institute of America

• The Culinary Institute of America
• The Culinary Trust
• FoodCorps
• Chefs Collaborative
• National Restaurant Association
• National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation
• Epcot International Food and Wine Festival – Les Dames d’Escoffier International

The Culinary Trust

The Culinary Trust is a non-profit organization that helps to advance culinary education. The organization was founded in 2008 by a group of volunteers and has grown to include over 200,000 members worldwide. As part of its mission, The Culinary Trust provides free resources for aspiring chefs and students through its website and social media accounts.

The organization is headquartered in New York City but has branches across the country as well as in London, Tokyo and Berlin.

FoodCorps

• FoodCorps is a national service organization that connects kids to healthy food in school. By partnering with schools, garden centers and community groups, FoodCorps places leaders in limited-resource communities for a year of public service.
• FoodCorps members provide hands-on experiential learning opportunities for participating youth by helping them grow tasty fruits and vegetables that can be used to make meals at school or make homemade snacks from scratch.
• In addition, they help promote the nutritional value of fresh produce while increasing access to healthy foods across America’s rural communities.

Chefs Collaborative

Chefs Collaborative is the largest and most influential network of chefs and food professionals in the country. They’ve been a driving force behind many of today’s innovations in sustainable cuisine, including farmer’s markets, community supported agriculture (CSA) programs and farm-to-table dining.

If you’re interested in both cooking and thinking about how to make better use of our nation’s food system, this internship might be for you!

National Restaurant Association

The National Restaurant Association (NRA) is a non-profit trade association that provides programs, resources and services to the restaurant and foodservice industry. The NRA works to unite all segments of the industry from full service fine dining establishments, fast casual restaurants, quick service eateries and more.

The NRA also partners with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) which offers scholarships for students entering into the restaurant, foodservice and hospitality industry. The program awards up to four $5,000 scholarships each year to high school seniors who are planning on attending college pursuing a degree in hospitality management or culinary arts programs following graduation from high school. They also provide assistance for veterans looking for employment within this field after leaving active duty military service through their Veteran Career Initiative program.

National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation

The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) offers internships to undergraduate and graduate students in the hospitality industry. These internships are available to current students or recent graduates, as well as members of the general public.

• If you’re interested in an internship with the NRAEF, it’s important to be specific about what you want. The more specific your request, the more likely it is that they’ll find an opportunity for you!
• Some paid opportunities are available through this organization—but they tend not to cover housing costs or transportation expenses like gas money or parking passes at school/work (for example). This can make such opportunities less than ideal if they don’t come with any sort of reimbursement for those things either; however, there may be ways around this depending on how much money a family has saved up over time so that their child doesn’t end up paying too much out-of-pocket!

Epcot International Food and Wine Festival

If you’re looking to get the most out of your food internship experience, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Look for an internship that offers a variety of menu options and ingredients. Food trends change quickly, so there’s no telling what’s hot when you’re looking for an internship. You’ll want to be able to explore different types of cuisine without getting bored or running into scheduling conflicts.
• Make sure the environment is fun and friendly—and not competitive! There’s nothing worse than working with people who are constantly trying to outdo each other by being better cooks. If you feel like someone is constantly trying to take credit for your ideas or make them sound less intelligent than they actually are because they don’t want anyone else getting credit, it may be time to move on from this position.

Les Dames d’Escoffier International

Les Dames d’Escoffier International is a global organization of women leaders in food, wine and hospitality whose mission is education, advocacy and philanthropy. As a member-based organization, Les Dames d’Escoffier recognizes the importance of developing future leaders for the hospitality industry by providing opportunities for professional development through training and mentoring. For more than 30 years, the organization has been committed to providing an avenue for professional growth and leadership development among women working in or aspiring to work within restaurants, hotels or other related industries.

Les Dames d’Escoffier provides opportunities to develop leadership skills through its programs including:

• French Culinary Institute’s prestigious Le Cordon Bleu Program (the world’s first culinary institute)
• Les Dames d’Escoffier Leadership Academy – a two-year graduate program offering tuition reimbursement for advanced study as well as travel around the world; open to any woman who works in restaurants or hotels in any capacity but more specifically those who are appointed by their employers as managers at least three years prior to graduation
• Foodservice Forum®—a series of annual conferences held across North America where industry professionals gather from across multiple sectors including chefs from leading restaurants; buyers from major foodservice companies plus representatives from all aspects of hospitality including hoteliers/operators

Look for opportunities to work in the food industry.

Internships in the food industry can help you gain valuable experience and make connections that will stay with you long after graduation.

• For example, if you are interested in working as a chef, consider interning at a restaurant or culinary school.
• If there is any way for you to find an internship at an ice cream shop, do it! Your friends will be so jealous when they see photos of your trip to Italy on Instagram.
• If possible, try doing an internship abroad—this will look great on your resume and show potential employers that you’re willing to go above and beyond what others would do for their career goals.