Holy foodgasm: Travel Oregon's "Cuisinternship" Contest

Okay, I get a lot of emails about contests and promotions, but this is a genuinely amazing opportunity for all you food geeks out there.

Travel Oregon is sponsoring a new contest in which seven food-obsessives will get a chance to hang out with an, ahem, “notable Oregon culinary personality” for a week-long “cuisinternship” plus win six nights free lodging and $1,000 in cash. Now, I snorted at the whole "notable personality" thing at first, but really, these are some amazing opportunities—Gabe Rucker? Lynn Penner-Ash? I mean, look at this list:

Oregon Bounty Cuisinternships are offered in the following categories:

Artisan Food Producer: Become a culinary artisan in Southern Oregon with chocolatier Jeff Shepherd of Lillie Belle Farms and cheese maker David Gremmels of Rogue Creamery

Brew Master: Turn hops and grains into craft beer with brew master Jamie Emmerson of Hood River's Full Sail Brewery

Chef: Immerse yourself in Portland's dynamic food scene working alongside chef Gabe Rucker—one of Portland's culinaryprovocateurs—learning how to turn out inventive, gourmet meals that delight diners at the award-winning Le Pigeon restaurant

Rancher: Saddle up and herd cattle while learning sustainable ranching on two of Eastern Oregon's Country Natural Beef ranches with the Pickard and Boyer families, who have been in the business for generations

Fisherman: Head out to sea with charter boat skipper Lars Robison of Dockside Charters and learn the fine art of catching the Oregon Coast's prized wild salmon and rockfish

Winemaker: Walk the Willamette Valley vineyards of Penner-Ash Wine Cellars with renowned vintner Lynn Penner-Ash, learning the hands-on techniques involved in vineyard designate winemaking

Distiller: Get an advanced degree in mixology and learn about Oregon's booming craft spirits industry with distiller Jim Bendis of Central Oregon's Bendistillery

Plus, all the trips are 100 percent free—even airfare is paid. All you need to do is create a two-minute video explaining why you really, really need to experience one of these internships as well type out a Tweet-sized plea to the same effect. The contest ends Friday, Sept. 18 so you better get started building your full-body cheese costume right now. That's a small price to pay for such a big potential payoff. So apply right now.

Contest open through Friday, Sept. 18. Go to TravelOregon.com/Bounty for more details.