Good Food Oxford

First Year Masters, MSc African Studies, Remote Working

Work Projects

My internship project involved researching Oxfordshire resident’s food related lived experiences during COVID-19. My main tasks involved drawing up a research design, contacting research participants, interviewing them and writing up a report on my findings. I am happy to have completed the report as completing the research was really fulfilling, enlightening and a nice break from my degree. It was so refreshing to meet new people through various online video calling platforms and have the privilege of hearing their stories. My line manager was supportive but also gave me room to work by myself. I enjoyed that I was not being micromanaged but also could reach out to her or anyone else on the team when I needed to.

Daily Life

Initially, I found the idea of working from home to be really strange and struggled to have that work/home division but now I love the flexibility working from home brings. Eventually I settled into a routine where I would work from early morning to mid-afternoon with some breaks in between. My official hours were 8am-3.30pm but, as I wake up early, I would start before 8 and then exercise for my mid-morning break which helped me push through to 3.30pm. My daily tasks were varied and included desk-based research, contacting people and conducting interviews. The interviews were more taxing than I thought they would be, so I tried to only have two a day.

Lasting Impressions

I definitely enjoyed this experience. I was definitely given more serious responsibilities than in previous internships and I felt like my ideas were valued. I gained so much from this internship including strengthening my research abilities but more importantly I gained knowledge of food insecurity and poverty and just how complicated the whole issue is and also how important it is that we continue to fight food insecurity and poverty and the misconceptions surrounding it. My career ambitions were 80% set on academia prior to this 20% set on the non-governmental organisation sector but I am now at 50% academia and 50% non-governmental organisation which is exciting.

First Year Masters, MSc Environmental Change and Management, Remote Working

Work Projects

I was put in charge of two research projects: the first, to look into the resilience of the local food supply chain in response to the COVID-19 crisis, and the second to explore opportunities for accessing land for food production in Oxfordshire. For the former, I was responsible for reaching out to the organisations network to assemble a number of case studies from producers, suppliers and distributors.

The results were used to compile recommendations for how the host organisation could build a more resilient local food system and prepare a more coordinated response to future shocks. The latter research project required me to investigate data on council and college landholdings and contact councils, community land trusts and community farms around the country to identify a range of options for improving land access.

Daily Life

I worked remotely and found it was important to keep to a schedule that mimicked a normal working day. I set myself up a table and made sure my back was well supported. Exercise in the evenings was a great way to wind-down mentally, tire myself out physically and get away from my laptop screen.

Lasting Impressions

I had a brilliant experience and was incredibly grateful for the trust that Good Food Oxford put in me to carry out projects independently. The research topics were on matters I care a great deal about, and which were highly topical. It was very exciting to carry out research that will be put to use by an organisation that I respect. It has given me really useful contacts and experience in a sector I want to continue working in and has confirmed by career ambitions.

What advice would you give to future interns?

Apply for something you really care about and, in a field you would be interested in working in. It's a really mutually beneficial experience because you're motivated to work well for them, and that sets you up for success.