{"id":960,"date":"2011-01-12T11:51:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-12T18:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ups.edu\/cesblogs\/?p=960"},"modified":"2017-08-22T19:55:06","modified_gmt":"2017-08-22T19:55:06","slug":"career-buffet-finding-your-future-in-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/cesblogs\/2011\/01\/12\/career-buffet-finding-your-future-in-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Career Buffet: Finding Your Future in Food"},"content":{"rendered":"

Red <\/em>meat<\/em><\/em> is not bad for you. Now blue-green <\/em>meat<\/em><\/em>, that’s bad for you!<\/em> Tommy Smothers<\/em><\/p>\n

Until very recently I thought food security <\/em>referred to a sour maitre d\u2019 at a certain exclusive restaurant at which I did not have a reservation, a gaunt man of around forty who managed to stand between me and one of the best steaks in Seattle. Or perhaps, I thought, it refers to the turnstiles in the Sub, awkwardly pushing against my thighs and ensuring I follow the proper flow of traffic through the register lines.<\/p>\n

Whimsy aside, food security actually refers to a body of professions related to ensuring an adequate global food supply. While the world\u2019s population approaches 7 billion alongside an increase in pests, droughts, and fungi, food security experts are busily cooking up research to ameliorate global hunger.<\/p>\n

Food service is a popular entr\u00e9e <\/em>into the world of work and many Puget Sound students have had a taste. Post-college careers in food are attractive to many people; and why wouldn\u2019t they be? I\u2019m hungry right now, after all. But it\u2019s likely a hunger to understand the complicated system of food that entices the career taste buds of many Puget Sound students.<\/p>\n

We rarely think about how that cheeseburger arrived on the plate: with its bacon, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, pickles, onions, and mustard, on a sesame seed bun. What\u2019s funny is the diversity on the plate: that cheeseburger probably represents the United States, if not the United Nations of food. How many people did it take to manufacture, harvest, and distribute the raw ingredients? How much petroleum did it take to get those products from farm to table? Who decides which farms get what subsidies? How do we know that the genetically-modified items are safe to eat? Who decided what ingredients to order? Who cooked, assembled, and served it? Who ensured that when I take the next juicy bite, I won\u2019t contract e. coli? <\/em><\/p>\n

Grossness aside, food is a complicated but necessary business, and food-related careers\u2014from barista to sustainable farmer\u2014will continue to serve a crucial role as science and technology changes the industry from seed to stomach.<\/p>\n

A Puget Sound education provides the academic nourishment necessary to sow the seeds of success in a food-related career. A succulent sampler of foodie fun includes:<\/p>\n