Most students these days see internships as great resume builders and ways to network with companies in their field, but what if you could change the world at the same time?

The Land O’ Lakes Global Food Challenge program allows students to help solve a major world problem: hunger.

The program will “provide experiential learning opportunity to engage future leaders in the food and [agriculture] industry,” said program director Brandi DeVries.

She said the students will “provide solutions to those challenges that will help feed a growing population by the year 2050.”

While it seems a group of around 12 college students can’t really make a huge difference in this problem, DeVries says the program routinely makes impacts in the agriculture field.

The program spans over 11 weeks over the summer. Students travel to Washington D.C. to learn about agriculture policy and how the U.S. is making efforts to solve hunger issues in the country and around the world.

Next, the students will travel to South Africa and Tanzania to get a firsthand look at hunger issues in other parts of the world.

“It helped a lot to see the international perspective because when we think of agriculture we think of feeding our own people, but really it’s a global effort,” said Peyton Russell, a junior in biological systems engineering who participated in the program this past summer.

Russell emphasized how important the “international perspective” is to him as a person and as a job prospect.

While competitive—the program only accepts around 12 students every year—two or three students from Iowa State are chosen every year.

DeVries said that seven Iowa State students have been selected for the program since it started in 2014, and two of those students now have full-time jobs at Land O’ Lakes.

The application process for this internship is not traditional. A one minute video explaining what sustainability means to you is the first step in the process. After that, 20 finalists are chosen and interviewed by executive leadership. In the past, this leadership included the COO, CHRO, and CAO of Land O’ Lakes.

For any sophomores wanting to participate in this program, Russell says conveying passion in your video is the single most important thing you can do to get selected.

Russell also says that agriculture majors are not the only ones selected for this major. Any student with a passion for sustainability and solving world hunger is a viable candidate for this program.

Land O’ Lakes will have a kickoff in Curtiss room 13 from 5:00-6:30 p.m Sept. 14th. They will have a panel of Land O’ Lakes Global Food Challenge program representatives willing to answer any questions students have about the program. The program will also have a booth at career fairs on campus.