When I was in college studying philosophy, I picked up the habit of jotting down grocery lists and imaginary dinner menus during lectures, and I’ve been engaged with the theory and practice of how food ends up on the table ever since. Over the years this has meant working with farmers’ cooperatives, food banks, and a variety of food-centered nonprofits in the Midwest, California, and New England and earning a master’s degree in food culture and communications from the University of Gastronomic Sciences, in Italy.  

To follow food from the soil to the stomach is to trace a path from one field of study to another; food studies incorporates agricultural science, ecology, land management, urban planning, social justice, anthropology, chemistry, history, gender studies, and more. My project is to draw on all these fields to envision and contribute to a food system that is sustainable, community-centered, and delicious. Whether I am financially empowering small organic farms, sharing stories of local food production, or analyzing the structure and impact of different social media tools for food activists, my goal is always to help all of us talk with one another about where our food comes from and who gets to eat it.

The history and culture of food is inextricably bound up with the work of women, who grow, cook, and serve a majority of food worldwide. As a feminist and a new mother, I am fascinated with reproductive labor, the domestic sphere, and the unglamorous but essential work of feeding that takes place outside restaurants and beyond the reach of Instagram.

 Here’s some of what I have to say. Let me know what you think!