My mom, an intuitive cook, taught our family how to cook by understanding ingredients rather than following recipes. It was from her teaching that I learned to love cooking as a creative practice, not just a chore. Originally, I believed this passion would direct me to a career as a chef. But that trajectory shifted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic hit just as I was about to start college at Emory University. Instead of studying on campus, I spent my freshman year taking Zoom classes in my childhood bedroom.
By the end of the year, I felt the need to get outside and try something new, so I took an opportunity as a farm hand at the Oxford Emory Organic Farm for the summer. It proved to completely change how I saw my role in the food system. After the first day, my limbs ached, my hands were cut and dirt-stained, and I was utterly exhausted. The first couple days it was hard to get past the physical exertion of the job. But as my strength grew, I came to love the work.
Farm work was repetitive, yet it never felt monotonous. Some days, I would lose track of time as I fell into the meditative rhythm of harvesting. Other days, time stretched as I learned how to prepare seedlings or how to lay drip irrigation. By the end of the summer, my relationship with food had completely changed. I found that I was no longer interested in food just to cook, but I wanted to know more about the journey it traveled to get to my plate.
This curiosity led me to seek out every opportunity I could to be involved in agriculture and food systems. I worked on another farm in the Atlanta area for nearly two years, began working at farmers markets, and shifted my academic focus to study sustainable agriculture in the Southeast. My studies and work experiences helped me begin to understand the structural challenges embedded in the food system. I spoke to farmers and farmworkers who were navigating barriers related to land access, financial precarity, and lack of federal protection.
During this time, I grappled with the challenges and promises of sustainable agriculture and serendipitously met the former Bon Appétit Midwest Sustainability Fellow, Elise Kulers. Elise came to one of my classes to speak about how Bon Appétit was addressing many of the same questions I was asking about equity, sustainability, and responsibility within the food system. Through her visit, I learned about the Fellowship as an opportunity to continue exploring these issues in partnership with students, chefs, and campus communities across the East Coast.
Now, as the East Coast Fellow, I am excited to work with a company that is willing to examine its role in shaping a more just and sustainable food system. This Fellowship allows me to continue learning while also creating space for students to engage critically with where their food comes from and who is impacted along the way. I hope to use this role to connect people to the realities of our food system and to the possibilities for change that exist when we choose to pay attention and act collectively.
