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Sara Swan
Student of Sustainable Food Security
Indiana University Bloomington
January 01, 2013

We like to check in occasionally with folks who are still technically students (lesson 1: they may have part time jobs in addition to their studies) in part because it's exciting to imagine what good food job they may end up engaging in, or creating for themselves. When it comes to making the most of your education, Sara is showing us all how it's done. She also reminds us that one can never be done learning, even if you're no longer eligible for a student discount.

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

I went to a cute little charter school for high school where my teachers felt like friends and my friends felt like family. So the summer before college was a sad and scary time. However, I interned with an urban farming nonprofit called Growing Places Indy during that time, and the director, Laura Henderson, became a role model for me. She opened up her entire world to us in teaching us about food and farming: we had lunches at her friends' houses and met a wide variety of her food-world acquaintances. That internship made me realize how farming can connect to community, social justice, environmentalism, politics, art, and everything else that interests me. And it gave me a direction for life after high school. Then a professor who studies the politics of food at IU encouraged me to use the Individualized Major Program to create my own major around food.

How did you get your current good food job (yes, we consider studying a job of sorts, as it's a part of your career development)?

I started studying food specifically after I helped re-start IU's Slow Food club. At our first meeting, between bites of homemade persimmon pudding and local bourbon chocolate goat cheese, I talked with a girl who had created a major in Food Studies and in talking to her and my professor for the Politics of What's For Dinner course (and the sponsor of Slow Food IU), I realized that creating a major was my best bet for taking advantage of IU's bevy of food-related courses. Reaching out to professors and to students around me with similar interests also led me to serve on IU's Food Working Group, to intern as the Campus Garden Coordinator with IU's Office of Sustainability, and to intern with a local nonprofit called Mother Hubbard's Cupboard. In my (brief) experience, once you start reaching out with passion and interest, there are other passionate and interested people out there excited to help you.

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

Around our dinner table growing up, the two things that connected all of us were food and books. My sister makes her own cheese and my dad and mom love experimenting with anything edible. Then in high school I volunteered at a soup kitchen near my school. And I guess I am very much still preparing myself for a good food job. I graduate in a year and every time I check Good Food Jobs, I get a little more excited for that time when I can start applying. Editor's Note: We did not bribe her with farm fresh produce to say that.

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

When I tell people my majors, I face a lot of "So what are you going to do with that?" questions. Sometimes that makes me doubt the viability of a career in farming or in food-related nonprofits. But having met a lot of beautiful people who are so exuberant in their food jobs, I can't really imagine doing anything else. Often when I start to doubt my chosen path, I think to this farm I volunteered with in Quebec. The owners, a young couple who had graduated from McGill, work extremely hard, but have a stunning farm, a beautiful family, and a vibrant social life. And a sauna. You can't get much happier than when you have a sauna.

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

With climate change and peak oil, I think food security is one of the most important things for us to think about. How will we be getting food in 10, 20, 50 years from now? And what obstacles exist now that make people go hungry? I think revitalizing cities by turning empty lots into urban farms is an important step. And in combining urban life with farming, you get to farm as well as enjoy the cultural aspects of the city.

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

Fun classes - I would love to pick up knowledge of carpentry, Russian literature, bread baking, embroidery, archaeology, everything and anything.

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