From Campus to Career: Building a Future in Food Systems and Sustainability
Unfortunately, when I was an undergraduate student, I was not aware of the relationship between climate change and food systems. At the time, my thoughts of sustainability were mostly connected to recycling or using public transportation.
While traveling and having various experiences post-grad, I soon learned that food production and climate change are greatly related. I then wanted to work within sustainability and food systems, however, I did not have the ecosystem of a college campus to explore, network, and build a runway to emerge in the sector. Feeling this gap, I enrolled in grad school and was fortunate to have faculty mentors who helped drive my thinking and actions beyond the classroom to set up a strong plan to ensure my coursework was directly connected to building a values-aligned career in sustainable food systems.
After meeting with several students this summer to map out their senior years and career next steps, I wanted to share some reflections and strategies that can be harnessed while returning to campus in the fall. This is not a guarantee or step-by-step formula, however, several students have found it helpful in setting a personal infrastructure for their school year to help build values-aligned career paths across food systems. Hopefully they are beneficial:
Quick Overview:
Connect your capstone or research project directly with industry partners, local growers, and other food systems professionals. Further, explore conferences where you can present your research. Too many times, papers collect dust or feel like busy work for me. I’m grateful to my thesis chair and faculty members for pushing me to interview over 50 professionals in the sector while researching for my capstone. This qualitative data helped build more robust research, while also honing in on key leverage points and organizational cultures to inform my next career steps.
Strategies and Considerations:
Start with the Soil:
Spend time working on a farm or garden. Systems-level thinking is complex, especially with the food system, as it is influenced by several cultural, economic, political, geographic, and environmental factors. Whether it is a summer season, experimenting with a small growing area, or a campus farm, working with plants and soil can help release intuition and observing patterns of what works and what doesn’t.
Agriculture is not necessarily a “natural” phenomenon or ecosystem, however, it can be a direct link to understanding how different elements interact and can help guide thinking when interacting with the human, political, and corporate aspects of food systems.
Furthermore, there is a deep disconnect between food systems perspectives across urban and rural living. Not only can this help provide foundational knowledge of where the food system starts, however, it can also foster a broader understanding of different communities' view of food systems can help build a more robust and inclusive coalition to work on a specific area issue.
ATTRA and WWOOF are two hubs that often have great short-term opportunities in agriculture.
Attend Community-Workshops and Local Spaces:
From composting workshops, plant sales, or Green drinks, several cities, libraries, and community groups host low-stakes events that are informative and help provide a strong outlet to often connect with more professionals in climate and food systems.
Join or Organize Student Clubs:
There are many amazing organizations dedicated to providing social and professional development for students. Whether it is clubs focused food waste, gardening, or pesticide removal, there are so many great organizations to check out, plus you often can join national networks.
University Internships/Fellowships:
Beyond clubs and student life, I recommend interning on either your campus farm, dining provider, or office of sustainability. These can provide lower-stakes exploration to help immerse with what elements of food systems work that might resonate best with your path. Whether it is helping to manage a campus greenhouse or community engagement with students for dining hall programs, it helps provide a portfolio of experience to grow from.
Use Academic Projects as a Connector/Runway:
Create and slowly document a food-related passion project. It could be converting a lawn into a growing area, or writing a recipe blog. The key is to think about what you are genuinely passionate about and to start experimenting. Now there is a definite difference between doing something for fun versus work, however, this can help one map out what exactly they truly feel energized by and create a vehicle to grow a professional and personal community.
Utilize Google Scholar to network to build your thesis “career” committee:
Often students mention that their university might not have a direct faculty teaching what they specifically want to learn or go into. In my experience, searching Google Scholar with keywords and building a list of leading experts/interesting research has been extremely helpful.
For example, you might be interested in Seaweed farming. With this, type the topic into Google Scholar and see what research has already been done, and build a list of faculty and students engaged in this work. The next step would be reaching out to set up calls to learn more about their research and seek their guidance in your current studies and what would be the best steps, organizations, and experiences to pursue. Often these faculty leaders have strong networks or know how to best navigate a specific lane in the sector.
Curated Online Learning Networking:
Lastly, reach out to current professionals to set up a time to learn more about their careers. Rather than just asking if they are hiring, find a specific project or initiative that they have produced to ground the conversation. In my experience exploring a specific element can help ground the conversation in a more mutually productive way.
Example:
“Hi___,
After reading your interview on Civil Eats, I was curious about why your company chose to use red clover as a cover crop. I’m currently engaged in a research project on effective winter cover crops. Would you please be free for abrief 15-minutee call for me to learn more about your strategy?
Thank you, ”
If you are unsure how to find these professionals on LinkedIn or online, I recommend searching current and older conference websites and searching for panels & speakers that seem interesting to you. This can help ground companies, organizations, and leaders to speak with.
Ultimately, I don’t have all the answers, but I am always happy to listen and connect if it can be helpful!
Dr. Jay Sutliffe provided massive support to help connect my graduate thesis to broader food systems professional networks. I'm deeply grateful for his mentorship and continued guidance now in my career!
