Description

Midwest Foods is a woman-owned wholesale food distributor providing top quality food products to numerous food establishments in Chicago, surrounding suburbs, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana. Family owned and run company for two generations, we import fruits & vegetables from all over the country and other parts of the world to distribute these products to local markets. Midwest Foods is looking to hire a Local & Sustainability Coordinator to support the continued growth of our local & sustainability programs.

Midwest Foods’ local mission is to support local farmers and strengthen our regional food system. We currently define local as products sourced from Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Through our industry-leading local sourcing program, we connect farmers to chefs who are committed to investing in local sourcing, while partnering to tell the farm's story and assist chefs with reporting their local spend! As a woman-owned business, we are proud to prioritize sourcing from BIPOC, woman, and veteran-owned farms and food businesses as a foundational part of our local sourcing program. In addition to sourcing, we provide marketing resources to strengthen the success of these programs, including a local availability calendar, farm bios, reporting, pop up farmers market style events, and a local farm partner map.

Midwest Foods' environmental policy spans every department and we are continually developing ways to take our sustainability initiatives to the next level. Certified at the Platinum level by the Green Business Bureau, we are committed to being held accountable to our goals and being inspired in community with other sustainability leaders. As we explore opportunities to advance our sustainability initiatives in the areas of waste, water, energy, and carbon emissions, we actively seek out ways to support our local communities, build upon current partnerships, and support other woman-owned, minority-owned, or veteran-owned businesses.

Fueled by partnerships across the supply chain, our local and sustainability goals overlap, align, and build upon one another.

The Local & Sustainability Coordinator will support the ongoing implementation and growth of our local sustainability program.

Responsibilities:

• Sustainability Program
  • Support ongoing implementation of existing initiatives and drive the creation of new sustainability initiatives including but not limited to:
    • Food Waste
    • Food Donations
    • Zero Waste
    • Water
    • Energy
    • Sustainable Packaging
    • Regenerative/Organic Agriculture
    • Carbon Footprint
    • Additional Certifications
  • Reporting
    • Client Specific Reports and Requests
    • Ongoing tracking of required data to be able to easily produce internal reports and track progress toward goals
  • Maintain Green Business Bureau certification and any additional prospective certifications once obtained
  • Sustainability Engagement
    • Engage with MWF employees for trainings, questions, new initiatives related to sustainability.
    • Survey MWF vendors for information and initiatives related to sustainability.
    • Consider implementation of a Green Team to incorporate employee feedback from across all departments
• Local Program
  • Support ongoing implementation of existing initiatives and co-create new local program initiatives including but not limited to:
    • BIPOC Farmer program
    • Farmer Recruitment (IL, IN, WI, MI)
    • Process Improvements for Farmers and Chefs
    • Resources for Farmers and Chefs
    • MWF “Farmers Market” program
    • Produce Prescription/Box programs
    • Alignment with requirements of Chicago and Cook County Good Food Purchasing Program, AASHE STARS, Anchors in Action, Client-Specific sourcing initiatives, and similar values-based procurement programs
  • Reporting
    • Local Purchasing
    • Other Values-Based Purchasing (Organic, Fair Trade, BIPOC, Rainforest Alliance etc.)
    • Monthly, Quarterly, and Annual Reporting, for both clients and internal purposes
  • MWF “Farmers Market” Program
    • Update forms and tracking system at the beginning of each season
    • Communicate with chefs and farmers market staff to book market dates
    • Work with chefs to incorporate local produce and specialty items into their farmers market orders
    • Build farmers market kits
    • Confirm farmers market kits are included on farmers market orders
    • Assist with running markets, training farmers market employees
  • Events and Meetings
    • Planning and execution of Farm Tour & assist with development of farm tour event calendar
    • Attendance and/or tabling opportunities at client events, industry trade shows, conferences, sales calls as required
• Marketing Support
  • Strategically collaborate on the vision for sharing local & sustainability initiatives with Marketing dept and Dir. Of Local & Sustainability
  • Generate copy for
    • Farm profiles & social media storytelling
    • Sustainability commitments and successes
    • Marketing or promotional materials for the farmers market program
    • Chef stories and testimonies
  • Assist with maintaining the following
    • Local & sustainability content for MWF website
    • Local & sustainability physical print materials (ongoing and event specific)
    • MWF Farm partner Map
  • Events (Promotion, in-person attendance, event summary)

Qualifications

Requirements:

• Committed to Midwest Foods’ local mission to support local farmers & strengthening our regional food supply chain, with an emphasis on prioritizing BIPOC, women, veteran, and historically underserved farmers.
• Familiarity with both sustainability programs and local & regional food systems
• Experience designing and implementing sustainability initiatives and producing sustainability reports
• Ability to multi-task, prioritize, and manage time effectively
• Ability to set and meet deadlines
• Great attention to detail
• Collaborative thought leader
• Self-directed and takes initiative
• Strong writing skills
• Experience in data entry and navigating databases
• Proficient using a PC or Mac as well as Microsoft programs

Preferred

• Bachelor’s Degree
• At least two to three years working in sustainability, local ag, or related fields
• Familiarity with distribution and/or the produce industry
• Experience working with beginning, small, midsize and/or family farmers in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and/or Michigan
• Familiarity with certifications (food safety, Organic, WBE)
• Fluent in English and Spanish

Benefits

• Health, Dental, Vision, Life, STD/LTD, VL, Accident, Critical Illness Insurance
• 401-k with employer match
• Vacation and PTO/sick days

Competitive pay commensurate with experience. The Local & Sustainability Coordinator will report to the Director of Local & Sustainability.