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Teresa Mares
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
University of Vermont
May 20, 2014

When did you know that you wanted to work in food?

I first knew that I wanted to work in food when I started my research on urban agriculture in Seattle for my graduate degree. As I was doing fieldwork for my project, I volunteered for five seasons with Lettuce Link, an amazing gardening program at Marra Farm in South Seattle. During this time, my interests in urban agriculture and migration quickly extended out to the entirety of the food system. Since then, I have worked on several research projects that examine how immigrants from Latin America (mostly Mexico) navigate changes in the foods they eat and food insecurities. Given my research directions, I was lucky to teach a course on the Anthropology of Food as a PhD student at the University of Washington, and seeing students' excitement for all things food-related made me realize that this was exactly what I wanted to do with my career.

How did you get your current good food job?

When the job at the University of Vermont (UVM) was posted (they were looking for an anthropologist working on food systems), probably 20 of my friends and colleagues forwarded it to me saying, "This is your job!!" I applied immediately, went through a long and intensive interview process, and have been teaching at UVM since the fall of 2011.

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

I was fortunate to have taught courses as a graduate student and had started publishing on my research in some edited volumes. From this, I had a pretty good sense of what academics do on a day-to-day basis: teaching and research! While there have definitely been surprises along the way as a new professor, I was really lucky to have a dissertation committee that guided me through professional development and getting me ready for the academic job market (not to mention writing dozens of recommendation letters!)

What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your Good Food Job dream?

Let's be honest, Vermont is a cold place with a long winter! That has been hard after seven years of living in Seattle and the remainder of my life in Colorado where the snow melts fairly quickly. I haven't considered calling it quits, but I definitely need to make sure to get away to somewhere warm each winter (and learn how to cross-country ski to make the most of the snow!)

What can you identify as the greatest opportunities in food right now?

I think that the food justice movement is starting to really shape the ways that people are thinking and talking about food and questions of equity and sustainability are becoming even more intertwined in people's minds. While we still have a long way to go to ensure that everyone has access to meaningful and healthy food, there are so many exciting programs and organizations making this happen on the ground. As an applied researcher, it's really exciting to learn from food movement leaders!

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

Frequent flier miles so that I could travel (and eat!) all over the world.

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