City Fruit stewards and harvests urban fruit trees to support sustainable and equitable access to fruit. City Fruit was founded in 2008 to harvest excess fruit from Seattle’s public and private fruit trees, and in recent years, has recognized that reclaiming the urban orchard begins with helping tree owners and public orchardists grow healthy fruit. Urban fruit trees are a valuable community resource, yet often preventable disease and pests hinder fruit production or orchardists and tree owners are unsure of how to prune or steward their trees to maximize the potential for abundant fruit growth. City Fruit works to protect urban fruit trees from pests and mismanagement, and provides assistance in harvesting, preserving, and sharing fruit among neighbors.
City Fruit’s holistic approach at our urban fruit forest focuses on caring for the trees and training others to do so, harvesting and distributing this fruit through efforts that reinforce food justice and dignity, and seeking ways to create long-term sustainability of fruit.
Part-time Fruit Tree Specialist
Position type: Part-time, seasonal (harvest 2023)
$24-27/hr depending on experience and up to 15-35 hours a week, depending on selected candidate’s availability and community need.
Priority application deadline: July 28th
Our Fruit Tree Specialists help us cultivate and nourish relationships with private tree owners by educating them on different techniques for fruit tree stewardship and helping them understand year-round tree care. This position works under our current Fruit Tree Specialist and is anticipated to be part-time from July to October, with full-time hours possible if there is demand among the community we serve. For more information on the position and how to apply, please view the full position description.
Part-time Seasonal Harvester
Position type: Part-time, seasonal (harvest 2023)
$19/hr and up to 20-35 hours a week, depending on selected candidate’s availability and abundance of fruit.
Our Seasonal Harvester(s) are assigned harvests in various parts of Seattle, coordinating with a dedicated team of harvesters and other City Fruit staff and area homeowners and renters who have provided access to their fruit tree. Our harvesters play a critical role in helping us get as much fruit as possible as we try to reduce food waste and share fruit equitably with all members of our community. In this role, you’ll be able to see how fruit gets from an orchard or backyard, sorted, and to our community members through food banks and farmers market. For more information on the position and how to apply, please view the full position description.
We’d love to hear from you! For general inquiries or questions about internship opportunities, please contact [email protected]. To join the City Fruit community as a volunteer, check out our volunteer page for a list of opportunities and a link to our workparty sign-ups!
City Fruit is committed to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment. This includes engaging staff, board members, interns, and volunteers in conversations about institutional racism and how our work can be aligned to resist and disrupt practices rooted in white supremacy and racism. We value and welcome the diverse array of lived-experiences, perspectives, values, and identities that individuals carry with them.