Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Callahan.
Chelsea, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was fortunate to grow up in a household that valued good food. Though I may not have realized or appreciated it at the time, the emphasis on healthy food choices, exploring exciting flavor combinations through cooking, and sitting down to a family meal every single night played a huge role in shaping my life and career.
Though I always loved food, I never really thought too hard about where it came from and how my food choices impacted the environment, the economy, and all the people involved in the supply chain from farm to fork. That is until my junior year at Northwestern University when a Food Justice course opened my eyes to the injustices and hidden costs inherent in our food system, and I began to look at food in a new light. A year later, after graduating early from NU, I conveniently invited myself on a food tour of Italy that my aunts and parents had been planning (without me-sorry fam!). As we ate our way through Northern Italy, we learned about the people, the stories and the age-old traditions behind the food on our plates. It was on that trip that I first learned about Slow Food, an international organization promoting good, clean and fair food for all, and it was also on that trip that I realized I needed to be a part of this good food movement.
That summer after college, I went to work for Sustainable Nantucket, an organization working to build a more locally-based and self-reliant food system on-island, while trying to figure out what I wanted to do career-wise. I spent the summer helping to develop Sustainable Nantucket’s Farm to School Program and educating kids in their youth garden, all the while getting a big education myself. That experience cemented my desire to work for food system change, and since then I’ve lived, learned, and worked around the world, expanding my food knowledge along the way. I served as a Nutrition Education AmeriCorps at City Harvest, a food rescue non-profit in NYC, lived and worked on permaculture farms in South America, managed the front of house and the brand at a bakery in DC, and assisted in event planning, operations and marketing at a variety of food-focused non-profits, incubators, and urban farms.
And somewhere in between, I spent a life-changing year at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy (aka the Slow Food University) where I earned my Master’s in Food Culture and Communications: Human Ecology and Sustainability alongside 18 classmates from all over the world. Together we studied food holistically from all angles; one week examining the texture, aroma, taste, and mouthfeel of cheeses from around the world, and the next week exploring the impact of the Columbian Exchange on modern day food systems and cultures. Throughout that year we traveled around Europe, living with food producers and understanding their way of life and food traditions, and I began to document the rich stories of these people, places, and traditions through photography and writing. I left Italy with a new appreciation for the people and stories behind the food on our plates, a new obsession with goats, and an incentive to support the Slow Food way of life; that good, clean, fair food philosophy I had fallen for on my first Northern Italy adventure.
All of these experiences have led me to where I am now, living in Chicago and working as the Program Coordinator at FamilyFarmed and the Vice President of Slow Food Chicago. In my spare time, you can find me running around the city, wandering farmer’s markets, cooking up curious concoctions with the best seasonal and local produce, and photographing/writing about food, farms, and travel.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s been a windy road to get to where I am today, and I think there are still many turns to come. I have bounced around the food industry, dabbling in several different food system roles, and I’m constantly re-evaluating how I want to contribute to my overarching goal of food system change. The tough, and at the same time very exciting, think about working in this industry is that there is no direct career path. There are so many ways to make an impact and it’s all about carving out a niche or figuring out the best way to match your skill-set to a need, which is not always easy or straightforward. Transitioning out of my Master’s program in Italy was the biggest struggle for me because, in addition to the reverse culture shock, I felt ready to put all my new knowledge, passion and experiences to use but had no idea where to focus my energy. I remember feeling that same uneasiness graduating from Northwestern knowing that I wanted to work in food but not knowing where to begin considering I had a B.A. in Psychology and no food system experience! In these instances, I have found that the best solution is to jump in feet first and experiment with the things that excite me. In every new city I’ve moved to I’ve worked my way into the food community through networking events, volunteering, and essentially stalking (in a non-creepy way!) any organization that intrigues me until they let me work with them. This tactic has served me well over the years and led me to interesting people and exciting work. I’ve also had several jobs that were not the right fit for me, and realized that those negative experiences can be just as valuable as the positive ones in figuring out what I really want to do!
Please tell us about FamilyFarmed; Slow Food Chicago; Chelsea Starr Callahan Photography.
My day job is Program Coordinator at FamilyFarmed, a non-profit organization committed to expanding the production, marketing, and distribution of locally grown and responsibly produced food, in order to enhance the social, economic, and environmental health of our communities.
At FamilyFarmed, my favorite part of my job is working with the entrepreneurs in our Good Food Accelerator, the nation’s first Accelerator focused on building supply chains for sustainable local food. Each year we take up to nine emerging Good Food businesses through an intense 6-month program (almost like a mini food MBA) that gives them the resources they need to scale up and run a successful business. Our fellows constantly inspire me as I see the hard work that they put in every day to bring unique, better-for-you products to market in an effort to enhance our local food economy. Watching these extremely smart, creative and motivated entrepreneurs making a difference in our local community gives me hope for positive food system change across the country and globe!
I’m also involved with Slow Food Chicago, one of the largest Slow Food chapters, as the Vice President, working alongside a board of talented and dedicated volunteers to promote good, clean and fair food for all. I’m honored to be a part of this diverse group of individuals (comprised of beekeepers, farmers, chefs and beyond) and amazed by the events we pull off while all working full-time jobs! What I love most about Slow Food is the emphasis on biodiversity, knowing where your food comes from and sharing good food with your community. While we have educational events throughout the year, the event that really brings all of these Slow Food principles together perfectly is our Annual Farm Roast; a giant pop-up feast where Chicago’s best farmers, food producers, chefs, and mixologists come together to prepare locally sourced dishes using Ark of Taste ingredients. Many people don’t know about The Ark of Taste, a living catalog of delicious and distinctive foods facing extinction, and by preparing them in this approachable way we help keep these food products in production and on our plates!
When I’m not working at FamilyFarmed or on Slow Food events, you can find me behind my camera lens. I fell in love with photography in Italy (who wouldn’t with the abundance of delicious food and beautiful landscapes) and haven’t put down my camera since. Currently, I’m working with Maya Camille Broussard, founder of Justice of the Pies and a graduate of the Good Food Accelerator, on a cookbook featuring her delicious pies and profiling inspiring activists around the country with pie recipes in their honor. I love capturing the essence of food, people, and places through photography and look forward to building my business with future creative projects.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
One of my favorite memories from childhood is my mom teaching me how to make risotto. It was the first thing I learned to cook on my own, and I loved sitting on my little stool by the stove stirring repetitively and adding the broth ladle by ladle, all the while watching the rice kernels shimmer and change shape as they absorbed the savory liquid. My mom was shocked at how much I loved this painstakingly slow process (and secretly appreciative because it meant she didn’t have to be the one standing over the stove for an hour!), but looking back I realize how telling this is of the person I would become and the Slow Food philosophy I would adopt. I’ve always been very thoughtful and deliberate in my actions with a life motto of “slow and steady wins the race”; in other words, the perfect candidate for the Slow Food way of life, and the maker of a mean risotto!
Contact Info:
- Website: FamilyFarmed.org; SlowFoodChicago.org; ChelseaStarrCallahan.carbonmade.com
- Instagram: @familyfarmed @slowfoodchicago @chelscall
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/FamilyFarmed; www.facebook.com/slowfoodchicago
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