by Alex Risley Schroeder
Participant in "Food Writing Workshop" by Steve Holt at The KITCHEN
Check out the latest schedule of classes, workshops & more at The KITCHEN here TrusteesKitchen
A tour through the Boston
Public Market is a catalog of fresh, locally sourced food and food-related
specialty items. It is also a picture of diverse pathways to a career in local
food.
Turns out it is as much
about people, passion, and technique as it is about food.
Avery of Nella Pasta
started out making bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches in her plug-in electric fry
pan. KITCHEN Interim Manager Sara Ross loved food and plotted a course from prep
cook to retail on-farm sales, to cupcake truck, to kitchen manager. Sarah at
Peterman’s Boards and Bowls combined her sales and art background and now sells
21” wide salad bowls upcycled from fallen trees.
If a local food career is
what you’re after, formal training -- whether in a kitchen or on a farm -- can
give you a head start. But don’t underestimate connecting with professionals
who are also crazy about growing, making and serving food, such as farmers,
even those who grow in shipping containers (like Corner Stalk Farm); pastry
chefs; cooks in big kitchens and on small trucks (Bon Me has five); and
inventive stonemasons (like the ones at American Stonecraft). If you want
develop your passion, spend time around passionate people.
Build a career in food from
your life. See connections between the food you like, the organizations you
know, and the skills you have. Feed the people around you, and repeat. Talk
about what you like! The flavor, the spices, certainly. But also the
camaraderie, the technique, and even the equipment -- like Red Apple Farm’s
donut-making robot or Boston Honey Company’s indoor hive.
Bottom line: good food
comes from good people!
P.S. Right now, there are a
few jobs at Boston Public Market! Check them out here! Check out employment with The Trustees here
Alex Risley Schroeder works in
workforce development, most recently thinking about food system jobs and job
creation, as part of the newly released Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan, and with the Massachusetts Workforce
Alliance.