This gastro.gnome lives up to her title. While Erika does literally work with food - running the Farm at Dekalb Market - she came at it from an unlikely angle: economics. While her college cohorts are likely working on Wall Street, she chose food as her format and she's been making an active change in how and what people eat ever since. The credo of the market rings true for her and for us - promoting entrepreneurs, quality, community, and sustainability. If you're as obsessed with Erika as we are, track her down at the weekly market; you can find her at the tasting table and ask her for sound advice on your own good food job.
What attracted you to a good food job?
People are confused when I say I began my farming career as an Economics Major in college, but that's where my initial interest in food access issues stems from. It got me asking questions; who owns the land? Who works the land? Who reaps the benefits? And in the end, who eats it? Well, the point is, I wanted to eat it. I wanted to eat it all. I was working in social services with the city's homeless population and became aware to the fact that there are whole neighborhoods without grocery stores or access to fresh vegetables. Food access was at the forefront of my mind when I finally quit the broken system and moved out to Long Island to pursue my training as a farm apprentice at Quail Hill Farm in Amaganset, which was about as far away from homeless services as you could get. Even though I had left the city to gather skills and knowledge I always had the intentions of returning to share that experience with the city that I adore.
How did you get your current good food job?
Seriously all I can say is by miracle. It's an incredible story, but I got my current job, my ideal job, subbing for a friend at a farmers market in Long Island. It was our last market of the season and I overheard my fellow apprentice talking to a man who was sprouting all these ideas about building as farm in Down Town Brooklyn. I basically abandoned my post by the register and, like a lunatic, explained to him that he had to choose ME as his farmer. I then spent the next four months convincing him I was capable of creating something wonderful and useful to the community at large, which I wasn't completely sure of myself. It's been an incredible learning experience but I managed to link up with some great mentors who helped shape this project, like Ben Flanner from the Brooklyn Grange and the whole young farmer community of East End, Long Island.
How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a good food job?
I'd have to thank my parents, for getting us involved in one of the first CSA's in New York City, back in probably the early-'90s. It got me accustomed to questioning where food comes from, who grows it, and also exceptional quality.
Aside from that my experience in social services has created a huge desire to work with young people. Right now the farm is launching its first season of job training programs with the help of Family Cook Productions for "out of school youth", that is, kids who just dropped out or graduated High School who are looking to get involved in either agriculture or farm-to-table culinary arts. It is so rewarding to see a kid connecting to the land and feeling ownership of a space they helped to create.
What advice do you have for others in search of a good food job?
I don't know if its due to the economy or what, but these days there seems to be a plethora of "unpaid internships" and a dearth of real, paying jobs. I know the frustration. My first piece of advice would be "don't lose hope, don't listen to your parents, don't settle'". Don't go back to school if you are unsure of what you want to do and are just "filling time" until the economy picks up, you are just wracking up debt. Get creative. Start a movement, get your also-unemployed friends involved, talk to everyone, and then find investors or a grant. Grants are available, I have found, in agriculture and "green jobs", but you have to have a coherent plan.
If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?
I'd say vegetables, but I have been compensated by vegetables many times and vegetables don't pay the rent. Maybe free rent.