You may get a funny feeling, after reading Lilia's interview, that you are going to see and hear from her again in the future. Her experience working on projects that have an impact on a large number of people and her passion for food policy hint at the potential for widespread change that so many of us are hoping to contribute to, in a big or small way. We hope you'll celebrate what's been accomplished and what there is to look forward to with Lilia and the rest of us, near and far, on Food Day.
When did you know that you wanted to work in food?
I have probably always wanted to work in food without knowing it. Growing up in Belarus, I spent summers in the country where we foraged in the fields, gathered mushrooms and stomped on the hay in the neighbor's barn to pack it for winter. We also made pickles, jams, preserves and all sorts of tasty stuff, as many other families did.
After a linguistic college I got my first job in Italy with Slow Food to answer the phone at the reception desk because my English was good. Slow Food was becoming more and more popular globally, and very soon I joined the international team and was tasked with opening local chapters in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Canada and Eastern Europe.
One day, Carlo Petrini, the founder of Slow Food, called several of us in his office to speak about his new idea-an international conference of 5,000 farmers-and to ask us to organize it. While working on the first Terra Madre in 2004, the world meeting of food communities, I traveled around the Eastern Europe to select the participants: yak breeders from Kyrgyzstan, mulberry producers from the Pamir mountains in Tajikistan, winemakers from the birthplace of vine, Georgia, and scientists from one of the world's largest seed banks in St. Petersburg, among many others. We had a feeling that everything was possible. We were doing something that had never been done before: bringing together farmers, fishermen and food artisans from 130+ countries to share their experiences and learn from each other. Those who have been to Terra Madre in Turin, Italy, know that it's a life-changing experience (on October 25-29 this year).
How did you get your current job?
My friend Sarah Weiner learned from Alice Waters that the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) was looking for a campaign manager for the first national Food Day on October 24, 2011. I was fresh out of the Master's degree at King's College in London, and thinking about the next move after ten years with Slow Food. Michael F. Jacobson, the Executive Director of CSPI, hired me via Skype after a two-hour call.
How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a job?
From Slow Food and Terra Madre I learned, among many other things, how to create a network of several hundreds of good food communities in 28 countries (selected according to the strict criteria of good, clean and fair), and then work with them for many years to develop the network, create educational opportunities, exchanges and events, and promote their products through tailored projects. After that experience, organizing one day of action in the U.S. and managing the launch of the Food Day network sounded very challenging, but doable.
Food Day is on October 24 every year. It advocates for diverse food-related issues: health and nutrition, hunger, agricultural policy, animal welfare, and farm worker justice, with the goal to strengthen the food movement and improve food policies.
Food Day and Slow Food have much in common: the aim to raise awareness about food issues and educate broader public, the effort to build more sustainable, just and better food systems, and the support of thousands of volunteers and enthusiasts. Food Day is possible thanks to a hundred national partners, dozens of Advisory Board members, student leaders, local and state government officials, school districts, and local organizers.
What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your good food job dream, and what helped you to persevere?
When I arrived in Washington D.C. last February I knew little about the country's food issues and could hardly spot a familiar name or organization. The learning curve was steep. Still my bed-time readings are books, articles, and blogs to keep up-to-date and catch up on whatever I might have missed in the previous years.
But it was a plus to come with a fresh eye, no bias, and open to all opportunities. Sometimes the best results come from where you least expect them, and curiosity, humility and passion help. I was lucky to have support of some great people in the beginning: Michael Dimock from Roots of Change, Kristin Kiesel at Sacramento State, Caleb Zigas, the organizer of the San Francisco Street Food Festival, Jen Dalton, editor at Civil Eats, Josh Viertel, ex-President of Slow Food USA, Sarah Weiner from Seedling Projects, Dino Borri from Eataly New York, and many fantastic others.
What can you identify as the greatest opportunities in food right now?
National food policy. Today the media and a growing number of consumers are very supportive of the good-food movement, and many promising food policies are being enacted on state and city levels. What's missing is the national food policy, written by those groups and people who make change happen in their work every day. This year's Farm Bill debates have shown once again how heavily it's influenced by large farms and agribusiness. The food movement urgently needs a visionary document, written perhaps over several years in a major grass-roots effort, that will become a roadmap for what the American food system really needs to become, sustainable, affordable and fair in, let's say, 40 years from now.
When last April a number of Canadian organizations released the results of a similar project, the People's Food Policy, Michael Pollan tweeted: "More on Canada's food politics: The People's Food Policy Project. How many years ahead of US?"
If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?
Travel opportunities. I've been to many new places during the last year and a half: Texas, Colorado, Vermont, Illinois, Massachusetts, California, Louisiana? I love meeting people, hearing their stories (we've even launched the Food Day blog to share the stories from around the country), and exploring through food. My last big project with Slow Food was a trip with a groups of researchers along the Silk Road-unforgettable!