VOLUNTEER POSITION

Role: Kitchen lead | Farm to table community wellness
Organization: Inan Itah
Location: Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua, Central America

The InanItah Fire Season is looking for a Kitchen Lead to join our team of InanItah Fire Season Vision & Space Holder team for the upcoming season from August 15, 2024, to February 15, 2025. There is potential for this to be an all year position if desired.

The Inanitah Fire Season vision is to be a model for regenerative living. Inanitah Fire Season is a vibrant community for personal growth and development where community members are invited to be themselves. InanItah is also an education center for living in harmony with the earth and being aware of our consumption patters. We practice living in conscious relationships with nature, others, and themselves.

The person in this role will support the vision by sourcing food from our property and the local farmers of Ometepe Island. This guideline supports the local Ometepe economy and limits the environmental impact of food purchasing and consumption. The InanItah Fire Season Kitchen Lead is the holder of this vision and its guidelines.

By living this vision, community members explore how to live more sustainably by changing their food consumption and purchasing habits and considering the impact of their waste production.

We are located on 22 acres of biologically diverse land, with 360-degree expansive views, InanItah is a tropical paradise located on Ometepe in Nicaragua. InanItah rests in the heart of fire and water-filled volcanoes and is surrounded by Lake Nicaragua. We are blessed with natural spring water, artfully created natural buildings, organic gardens, and a tropical food forest. Together, these surroundings create an environment of magic and wonder.

There are endless opportunities to learn and grow at InanItah. You can dive into yourself by joining regular yoga and meditation classes, connect with others during cacao ceremonies, ecstatic dance, conscious communication classes, and community sharing circles and, you can explore your connection to nature by participating in permaculture projects, natural building, organic gardening, local foods, and herbal medicine.

THE OPPORTUNITY

• Gain experience in vegetarian farm-to-table community kitchen management in the context of permaculture and regenerative living.
• Become part of a vibrant international community of people who gather to experience regenerative living on both personal and planetary levels
• Live in a stunning natural environment on the tropical volcanic island of Ometepe

• Explore creativity in the kitchen
• Learn about local products, tree crops, tropical fruit and vegetables and so much more
• Work closely with the local Nicaraguan community and learn about the local culture and agriculture
• Build your own side business by offering culinary workshops and food products
• Participate in yoga and meditation classes, workshops of all kinds, and weekly cacao celebrations
• If desired, receive one-on-one mentorship with community founder and transformational facilitator, Gaia.

THE REQUIREMENTS

• Strong ecological values
• Strong passion for permaculture ethics of earth care, people care and resource share
• Dedicated spirit and a strong work ethic
• Passion for creativity in the kitchen
• Desire to be creative and to explore cooking with only Ometepe grown foods (There is a minimal list of exceptions which include mainland Nicaragua grown flax, chia, dehydrated cane sugar, and garlic when available)

• Leadership and team building skills
• Ability to uphold boundaries and hold others accountable
• Language requirements: Spanish: Be able to order food, via telephone, with Spanish-speaking vendors English: Be able to provide a kitchen orientation for new arrivals and coordinate with predominantly English-speaking community members who collaborate in making meals
• You will be expected to work 30 hours each week, and most importantly be responsible for the kitchen area. (Responsibilities are defined below)
• Attend volunteer logistics meetings Monday - Friday and one weekly community sharing circle that we call the Transparency Circle.

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
(experience in some, but not all of these areas required)

• Experience in catering or community kitchens
• Experience in a farm-to-table kitchen environment
• Volunteer coordination
• Experience in tropical Permaculture environments
• Natural health and nutrition studies & professions
• Ability to cooking with fire, and wood ovens
• Knowledge of vegetarian, vegan and live food cooking

RESPONSIBILITIES

Hold the Kitchen Vision

• Provide kitchen orientations, onboarding new community members to the kitchen guidelines, and the use of kitchen resources
• Understand and explain the InanItah Fire Season kitchen vision and how it forms the foundation of the kitchen guidelines
• Communicate and apply kitchen guidelines and educate about the intentions behind them

Source Local Ingredients

• Encourage and empower community members to use what is available in the InanItah Fire Season garden
• Purchase food from various local farmers and businesses and educated about where to buy locally grown food on the island
• Manage the kitchen budget and track spending

Streamline Kitchen Logistics

• Ensure that kitchen is kept clean and hygienic by applying the kitchen guidelines
• Oversee community contribution shifts for meal preparation and clean-up
• Ensure that community meals are available from Sunday dinner until Friday dinner.
• Lead preparation of meals with community members
• Empower and select other community members to lead meal shifts
• Support community members in the use of the kitchen and the foods available for meal preparation
• Support community meal planning, including special dietary considerations of community members
• Maintain a creative spirit alive in the kitchen by nourishing an environment for experimentation with innovative dishes

Be a Team Player

• Be a part of the Space Holder team supporting the overall wellness of the community
• Engage the community in kitchen projects such as food preservation, dehydration, fermentation, baked goods, healing tonics, herbal remedies etc.
• Communicate kitchen needs to the Space Holder Team
• Setup and breakdown kitchen setup at the beginning and end of the season

APPLY

If this opportunity sounds right for you, please send a resume or a letter of interest letting us know about your skills and experience that make you a fit for the role. Reach out via our contact page or email us at fire.inanitah@gmail.com.

Please indicate you saw this posting at FoodWork.ca.