Homegrown Talent: Food Entrepreneurship
In this age of business startups and opportunistic ventures, starting one’s own restaurant or eatery may seem like an ideal plan, but in today’s competitive world, it’s not always so easy to become a food entrepreneur on your own. High operating costs, rigid regulations, and seasoned competition make the food industry a tough one to break into, so luckily for aspiring culinary professionals, incubator programs like La Cocina in San Francisco exist to make these dreams of success a reality. Personal fortitude alone won’t lead to success, and many people wouldn’t be able to make their dreams come true without help. Designed to encourage and mature fledgling businesses, incubator kitchens and several other types of programs help food visionaries from low-income communities turn their passions into their realities. Now Veggielution is planning a program of its own to foster visions of food entrepreneurship.
In collaboration with Somos Mayfair, Amigos de Guadalupe, Grail Family Services, and the School of Arts & Culture, Veggielution is planning a brand new program called HomeGrown Talent. Designed to promote food entrepreneurship in East San Jose, this six-month paid fellowship will offer hands-on experience at the Farm Stand in addition to business-skills training in a classroom environment. The main goals of this program are to encourage the growth of local San Jose talent and to strengthen the community, tying into the farm’s mission of building social capital through food and farming. Available for 12 opportunistic East San Jose residents, this fellowship can be a key step in developing crucial skills for the future.
Farm Manager Colleen Hotchkiss has been working to organize this program for several months now, after Veggielution was approached by Somos Mayfair due to an opportunity provided by a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) through the San Jose Housing Department. “Somos approached us, because they knew of this funding opportunity with CDBG, and wanted to fully develop the consortium of organizations to include a diversity of programs and opportunities, especially with the leadership development and economic opportunity portion,” said Hotchkiss.
In addition to encouraging the participants along the path to success, Veggielution wants to use this program to build networks and social capital in East San Jose, and more specifically, to provide opportunities to make connections within the immediate neighborhood. “It’s an opportunity for us to both provide training and provide a skills-building opportunity, but also for us to make those connections with people that live in our neighborhood and build our network in that way,” said Hotchkiss.
To reach out to potential applicants, Veggielution will utilize the help of its partner organizations in this project. “We are outreaching for it or publicizing the opportunity mostly through partner organizations: through Somos Mayfair, through La Mesa Verde and Sacred Heart, and other organizations that through their own networks and participants in their programs might have people that would be interested that they could send our way,” said Hotchkiss. Similar to Veggielution’s existing internship program, potential candidate for the HomeGrown Talent Fellowships will go through an application and interview process.
Whatever the outcomes of this new program, the process will be rewarding, allowing new people to visit and contribute to Veggielution and building relationships between the farm and our East San Jose community. Those working on the farm to bring this program to fruition have been eagerly anticipating its arrival, ready for it to finally begin. “I’m really excited about it because I’ve always wanted to have a stipended opportunity for something like this. I think it’s really good for us,” said Hotchkiss.
If you’re interesting in applying for the HomeGrown Talent Fellowship, or if you have any questions, contact Colleen Hotchkiss by email at colleenh@veggielution.org or phone (650) 868–7186
Written by Sam Moiseff, Veggielution Storytelling Intern
