Jess' networking skills brought her to us when she reached out to see if we could attend the upcoming Making Good Food Work conference in Detroit. If you didn't know there was buzz about sustainable agriculture in a city like Detroit, prepare to learn a lot more from Jess' eclectic history and we-couldn't-have-said-it-better advice. She is an example to anyone who has looked at their resume and wondered how to connect the dots, or is trying to decide where to start amid a jumble of different food-related opportunities. There are several morals to her story, but foremost is the principle that all experience can be valuable.

What attracted you to a good food job?
It's been a pretty circuitous journey over the past few years, fueled mostly by curiosity, inspiration, and a drive to do meaningful work. Specifically, I started moving towards good food work in 2008 while working in Cambodia where 85% of people still make a living in agriculture. I'd come to do work related to empowerment and economic development through education, but quickly came to realize that food and agriculture could be a tool to address many of these issues in a concrete, creative, and often environmentally-sensitive way.

I still see food as a safe, inclusive, enjoyable way into talking about all kinds of things that we think are important: social justice, strong local economies, environmental sustainability, land use, culture... the list goes on.

How did you get your current good food job?
My current job is a mish-mash of a few different roles, which I mostly got by "just asking." I got to be a graduate student at MSU by approaching my current advisor at a conference and talking to him about my interests and plans I had started to set in motion to work on some projects in Detroit. Though I hadn't formally applied, he took a chance on me and helped to arrange a paid graduate student position.

Once I got to Detroit, I started a little neighborhood pop-up restaurant - called Neighborhood Noodle - that connected me with all sorts of amazing foodies, which led to the development of a local working group of socially-motivated food entrepreneurs. It's been an organic process, all about meeting people and trying to understand where I can be of service.

My other current big project, organizing the Making Good Food Work conference, came about from some conversations with colleagues about the challenges of local and regional food distribution. We agreed that there was a need for a national conversation on the topic, so I wrote up a small vision statement and started looking around for partners and sponsors to make it happen.

How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a good food job?
Since graduating in 2006, I've led a staff of 80 at a start-up non-profit; managed product marketing for Google's email service for schools; wrangled with international donors at a local NGO in Cambodia; organized briefings on sustainable ag for congressional staff in DC; and processed chickens on a small bio-intensive farm off the coast of Washington.

The world of good food is constantly growing and changing and all the crazy, eclectic work I've done has prepared me to be flexible and take advantage of opportunity when it presents itself. I think it's especially important to have had some growing experience, whatever it is you want to do. In the end, it all points back to the soil.

What advice do you have for others in search of a good food job?
One of the most exciting things about the good food world is that there so much opportunity to create meaningful work for yourself and maybe even for others too. It might make sense to start with the jobs that are out there already, but don't let that limit you.

So how do you figure out how to fashion your own perfect good food job? I tend to think good food can't be separated from a particular place and community. So while it's good to have a clear set of skills to bring to the table - say cheese-making, or writing, or community organizing - it's equally important to cultivate relationships in the place where you want to work so you can understand how your talents and interests can fit into what's needed in your food system. You can do this through volunteering, part-time work, and just by asking a lot of questions.

It's mostly common sense, but I think it's something that can be easily ignored in our relatively nomadic, get-up-and-go culture.

If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?
Figs? Pickles? Harmonica lessons? I love to barter.