Application Deadline: February 1, 2026; Group interview February 7, 2026
The Position
Are you a skilled cook or chef who loves sharing cooking with kids? Do you pride yourself on maintaining a clean, safe, and joyful cooking and learning environment? Does the idea of gluten-free, vegan, beet brownies cooked in a camping oven excite you? Can you inspire kitchen confidence in the youngest of chefs, and encourage an adventurous spirit in vegetable-skeptical eaters? This might be the position for you!
Cooking and eating delicious, farm-fresh food is central to Camp Fresh Roots! The Food Program Specialist manages and facilitates all aspects of the camp food program, cooking daily with up to three groups of 15 campers ages 5-12. Each group makes lunch and 3-4 snacks in our outdoor kitchen weekly. In June, the Food Program Specialist will assist with some farm field trips along with preparing for the summer. They report to the Camp Directors and work closely with the Camp Program Staff.
Key Details
Location: David Thompson Secondary School (South Vancouver) and Millside Centre (Coquitlam). This position will work primarily in Vancouver but must be willing to work a few days in Coquitlam in August.
Dates: Contract Position, June 11-September 4, 2026. August 4 will be a paid vacation day.
Hours: Full-time, Average 37.5 hrs/week.
Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:15-5:30
Compensation: $19.00-19.50/hr, plus 4% additional pay in lieu of vacation, paid sick leave, 30% discount at Fresh Roots markets, and access to culled produce. On-the-job training and professional development workshops will be provided.
Note: Position is funding-dependent, which may alter final employment contracts. This is a Canada Summer Jobs position. Applicants must be between ages 15-30 and have Canadian Citizen, Permanent Resident, or Refugee Status.
Responsibilities
Cook with kids
Facilitate campers harvesting and cooking their own food (a total of 3 lunches and 9-12 snacks weekly).
Plan kid-friendly, veggie-forward, culturally diverse menus that can flexibly use available farm produce and meet camper dietary needs. Most foods are vegan.
Incorporate age-appropriate cooking skills into the cooking program
Support Program Staff in cooking with kids
Train Program Staff in basic food safety, simple snack preparation, and kitchen use rules.
Appropriately delegate and work collaboratively with staff and youth volunteers.
Coordinate and support staff in implementing cooking programs in Coquitlam; lead weekly lunches in Coquitlam
Maintain a food-safe outdoor kitchen.
Establish and communicate kitchen procedures which ensure safe food handling by all
Ensure food is prepared with dietary needs and allergens in mind
Review and manage cooking and food service supplies inventory
Manage food inventory, including purchasing within a set budget
Food program administration
Create cookbooks based on existing templates
Submit receipts, expense reports, incident reports, and other reports in a timely fashion
Create a written program report at the end of the season
Before camp starts, facilitate spring field trips in Vancouver and/or Coquitlam
Qualifications
Fresh Roots recognizes that applicants from oppressed groups, including folks who are Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour (BIPOC) may be hesitant to apply for positions where they don’t perfectly meet the listed qualifications. If you are excited about the job description, believe you could learn to perform the responsibilities, and can meet the essential qualifications, we encourage you to apply.
Essential Qualifications
Minimum two years of post-secondary education or work experience
Experience working with kids ages 5-12
Experience with group cooking, including accommodating dietary needs
Strong communication and organizational skills, with a focus on collaboration and cultivating joy
Able to follow and enforce policies and procedures to ensure camper and staff health and safety, especially regarding food safety and kitchen cleanliness
Supportive of a body and food-neutral approach to nutrition education
Able to work in an outdoor kitchen for up to 9 hours a day
Able to lift up to 30lbs
Current FoodSafe and First Aid, including Child and Infant CPR, will be required before position starts; funding for this training may be available
Must pass a criminal record check to be able to work with children and vulnerable populations
Due to funding, must meet Canada Summer Jobs Requirements
Between 15 and 30 years old
A Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or have refugee status
Eligible to work in Canada
Preferred Qualifications
Experience cooking with groups of kids
Education and/or experience in dietetics, nutrition, food systems teaching, farming/gardening or other related fields
Ability to speak multiple languages is a plus. Languages frequently spoken in our communities include Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog, Punjabi, Farsi, French, and Ukrainian.
Class 5 driver's license and access to a vehicle is a plus
About Camp Fresh Roots
Camp Fresh Roots offers joyful, risk-aware day camp programming led by well-trained, caring staff on Fresh Roots schoolyard farms and food lands in South Vancouver and Coquitlam. We welcome approximately 300 campers each summer from a wide variety of backgrounds and abilities, and we offer sliding scale registration to make our camps as accessible as possible. Staff receive 40 hours of training, including in-depth training on health and safety, camp programming, and diversity and inclusion. Learn more about the camp at freshroots.ca/camp.
About Fresh Roots
Fresh Roots envisions resilient, sustainable and equitable food systems which support human growth and connection. We cultivate educational farms and place-based programs where youth develop healthy relationships with food, land and community through growing and sharing food that nourishes themselves, their communities and the planet! Our core values are at the heart of everything we do at Fresh Roots. They are joy, community, inclusivity, empowerment and lifelong learning.
How to Apply
Fresh Roots is committed to employment equity and encourages applications from underrepresented groups.
Submit a resume, a short cover letter OR video introduction, and the name, phone number, and email address for 3 references. At least one reference should be able to speak to your experience with kids and one should speak to your cooking experience.
Your cover letter or video should
Introduce yourself
Share why you want this position and what makes you uniquely qualified
Share what you hope to gain from the position if hired
Videos should be no more than 3 minutes, and must be shared via a link in the “website, blog, or portfolio” line. Cover letters should be no more than 500 words and must be uploaded as a document. Please note that we are not judging videos based on your video editing skills, and neither videos nor cover letters are preferred. Choose the option that best lets you shine.
A group interview will be held on Saturday, February 7 in Vancouver with short follow-up calls the week of February 9. Virtual interviews may be offered for those unable to attend the group interview.
We regret that due to the high volume of applicants only those selected for interviews will be contacted.
