What’s It Like Volunteering at the Food Museum? A Student’s Experience

From testing retro recipes to meeting our Red Poll cows, volunteering at the Food Museum is full of unexpected moments. Here’s a glimpse into the experience from one of our university student volunteers:

I’ve spent the last few weeks volunteering at the Food Museum in Stowmarket. As a university student, I had to choose a placement that was both interesting and relevant to my Sociology degree. The Food Museum fitted the bill exactly, providing a unique historical and social perspective that you can’t find anywhere else in the UK, while also being fun and interactive. Much of my time at the museum was spent with the Learning Services or Visitor Services teams, both essential to running the museum and curating every aspect of the visitor experience.

Learning Services

I began my volunteering placement at the Food Museum right at the start of their School Dinners exhibition, which will run for the next two years.

Part of my role involved assisting staff in delivering tastings of the mock-up school dinners — a task that was both fun and a great opportunity to speak with visitors about their own school dinner experiences. Alongside this, I encouraged visitors to complete our surveys, and once or twice conducted interviews to gain a deeper understanding of how the exhibition was being received, and whether there was anything we could change to improve their visit. Having previously worked exclusively in retail, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the public as people rather than customers, hearing their personal histories with school dinners.

I also helped with recipe testing and research to expand the tastings and increase the range of school dinner desserts available at the exhibit. Working with the Learning Services team was incredible, as they all had a fantastic depth of knowledge and passion for the museum and the experiences they provide.

Visitor Services

My time with Visitor Services was both informative and exciting. It was great fun to explore the museum grounds and spot a sheep here or a goat there. My first day even ended with putting the Red Poll cows away for the night, where I realised I had severely underestimated the impressive size of these gentle giants. Experiences like this kept me on my toes and made me look forward to what each day might bring.

As tours are a pivotal part of the museum experience, I had the chance to visit the Crowe Street Dairy with a fellow volunteer, and the following week, I conducted a tour myself. This gave me a real sense of the research involved in delivering a tour of a time capsule like the Crowe Street Dairy, and offered me an opportunity to learn more about the culture and history of Stowmarket.

Final Thoughts

I couldn’t have picked a better location for my volunteering placement. The staff at the Food Museum were so supportive and engaging, ensuring I had plenty of opportunities to learn and thrive in a new environment full of things to explore. I felt like I was genuinely giving back to the community and helping to enhance the experience for those visiting the museum.