Our Interns

Etheline Nguyen - Storytelling and Social Media Intern

Maria - Youth Education Intern

Doyna - Youth Education Intern 

Phuong Tran - Accounting Intern

Courtney Leahey - Corporate Relations Intern

Solani Patel - Corporate Relations Intern 

Mike Schneer - Eastside Grown Intern

My name is Mike and I am a Bay Area native. I find peace and solace in the natural refuges of the urban sprawl, which is why I enjoy Veggielution and Emma Prusch farm so much – looking at the freeway past the rows of locally grown veggies is a constant reminder that there are still natural sanctuaries left within the urban jungle. I am a graduating senior at San Jose State University majoring in environmental studies and minoring in water resource management. I plan to further my education post-grad and am heavily interested in resource management specifically regarding how it can be applied to sustainable agriculture. I want my involvement at Veggielution to reflect my passion for healthy, vibrant communities and to increase awareness about this locally-focused, sustainable, and community oriented program. 

Kyra Fukawa - Eastside Grown Intern

My name is Kyra Fukawa, and I am apart of the Eastside Grown Internship here at Veggielution.  I currently attend Cal Poly and am graduating next Fall 2017.  As a food science major this internship has allowed me to take what I have learned and put it into action.  I am able to take what I have learned in various food science classes and apply my knowledge to different aspects of Veggielution itself.  One of my favorite things to do is cook and create.  This internship is allowing me to take my ideas and bring them to life.  Through the food truck program, I am able to create healthy recipes and feed them to people.  I am very passionate and excited to see where this internship takes me and what new things I am to learn from this summer. 

Meggie Collins - Farm Intern

Veronica Peterson - Farm Intern

Emma Eaton - Farm Intern and Veggie Voucher Intern 

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Emma is excited to be spending her last free summer as intern at Veggielution. As an incoming senior at Cornell, she's had the opportunity to explore her academic passions and watch them evolve over the course of her college career. Starting off pre-med, Emma ditched that plan in favor of a public health route -- one which has, over time, come to incorporate the value of community engagement and sustainable food systems. Her Human Development major, and global health, inequality studies, and education minors emphasize just how complicated and interdisciplinary the word around us is. Although she doesn't claim to understand everything about how people work, she's hoping that her time at Veggielution will make that picture at least a little bit clearer. 

Ariana Abedifard - Program Liaison Intern

My name is Ariana Abedifard. I was born and raised in San Jose and am currently majoring in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning at UC Davis. I am extremely interested in food justice and sustainable food systems, and plan on emphasizing in that within my major. My second year at UC Davis, I interned with the campus dining services and worked on the resident garden, where I did a lot of advocacy on food accessibility for students. I also interned with the UC Davis Student Farm, where I did farm work that included sowing the seeds to harvesting them when they were full grown, and all the in-betweens. I love gardening, being out in nature, cooking, and meeting new people.

Rachelle Esteban-Rodriguez - Neighborhood Harvest Intern 

Hello! My name is Rachelle Esteban-Rodriguez and I am 18 years old. I was born and raised in San Jose and in the fall I will be attending UC Davis with an Animal Biology major. In my spare time, I like learning about film history and watching any kinds of film as well as writing, photography, and painting. Being a part of the Veggielution team has allowed me to see how important it is for the community to have access to locally grown organic food as well as learning how to grow in a professional environment. Having the opportunity to intern at Veggielution has allowed me to see the impact that we have in San Jose and how all of the programs offered allow the community to become involved. With this in mind, I hope that the experience will allow me to become more educated about urban agriculture and how to persuade others to help their communities! 

Sonya Herrera - Neighborhood Harvest Intern

My name is Sonya Herrera. I work as a produce clerk at New Seasons Market and live in downtown San Jose. I was born in raised in Stockton and studied journalism and economics at San Jose State. Though I have read a few studies and articles on how community farms operate, I want learn about how the goals of a community farm can translate into a working business model with ecologically sustainable practices. Through this internship, I want to gain hands-on knowledge about what it takes to run an economically and ecologically sustainable community farm. My ultimate dream is to start my own farm in Stockton and produce organic fruits and vegetables, in an ecologically sustainable manner, to be harvested and consumed free of charge by the local community.