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Daniel Winans
Director
EcoGastronomy Dual Major, University of New Hampshire
April 11, 2011

Although we often feel sheepish about having created our own Good Food Jobs for ourselves, we continue to meet people who have taken the reigns in their own way, and carved a good food job out of an already-existing company or institution. Dan is a proponent of this advice, although he was lucky enough to let his current position fall into his lap. Even so, his journey was not without hard work and a tremendous amount of risk-taking. All of which is paying off in a big way for each class of students who are heading off into the world to find, or create, their own destiny in food.

What attracted you to a good food job?

My earliest childhood memories all revolve around food. My family had a huge garden, which often felt like a work camp, but produced the most delicious vegetables. At age eleven I started my first business, baking and selling bread to my neighbors. By the time I went to college I knew I wanted to be in the restaurant business, so I went to the University of New Hampshire (UNH) and studied Hotel Administration (the program is now called Hospitality Management). After College I cooked, I went to Culinary School, I ran the food service in a nursing home, I managed a small catering company, I ran a large catering department for ARAMARK, I opened two café bakeries, and I sold two café bakeries. Along the line I had lost sight of what was truly important to me: family, friends, and good food.

After selling the restaurants, my wife Amy and I moved from New England to Portland, Oregon and I found a job teaching at a culinary school. Prior to our move I had only briefly visited Portland, but when we began to settle in I felt like I had moved home. The local food community was so vibrant and omnipresent it was inspiring.  After three years of teaching, Amy convinced me to apply to the University Of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy. In 2006 we sold our condo in Portland and took a giant leap of faith. We moved, with our eight month old daughter Annabelle, to Parma, Italy so I could pursue a degree in Food Culture.

How did you get your current good food job?

While I was in Italy I sent an email to Joseph Durocher, my mentor and professor from UNH. My intention was just to catch up and let him know how I was doing.  His response was short and to the point: he thought I should come back to UNH to teach culinary labs to the Hospitality Management students. I had my doubts about doing that, and was hoping for a more exciting option. But I figured it would not hurt to get my resume out there. Within days of sending my resume, the Hospitality Management Chair contacted me to talk about a new program he was helping to start at UNH: EcoGastronomy.

Before I knew it I had accepted a job at UNH teaching food culture and culinary labs. I was also on my way to join the committee working to develop and implement a (first of its kind) Dual Major in EcoGastronomy. I spent my first year at UNH scrambling to keep up with my teaching duties and working on EcoGastronomy. In June of 2008 we had final approval to go ahead with the program and I was asked to take the position as director of the program.

How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a good food job?

Virtually all the jobs I have had were related to food, but not always good food. Some of those good food jobs helped me to learn about how the "conventional" system works and what we are up against in trying to reshape our food system. Over the past decade I have spent a lot of time meeting people who care about good food. Through Slow Food, Chefs Collaborative, school, teaching and more I have become part of a network of people who really care about food.

What advice do you have for others in search of a good food job?

Get out and meet people. The internet is great, but talking to people one on one is best. Head out to farmers' markets, conferences, Slow Food events, Chefs Collaborative conferences, volunteer, stagier, look for an internship.  Follow up with people you meet and talk to them about what your dream job is. You never know who might be able to connect you to your future.

If you already have a food job, but it's not "Good Food", look for a way to turn it into one. Lots of foodservice operations would like to source their food from local and sustainable sources but don't know how. You could volunteer to take on the responsibility of finding "Good Food" sources.

If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?

Good food, of course, especially pasture raised pork. Pigs are the tastiest animal and most versatile in the kitchen.

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