VIEWS FROM THE FOOD SYSTEM FRONTIER: The Emergence of a Field

First paragraphs: January 24, 2012, may not go down as a particularly noteworthy day overall, but for the growing sustainable food systems field it marked an important milestone. On this day, the Community Food Security Coalition's venerable COMFOOD listserv (http://www.foodsecurity.org/list.html) announced it was separating job announcements that were routinely posted on the list into a new listserv, COMFOOD JOBS. The emergence of a dedicated vehicle for posting jobs in sustainable food systems is a coming-of-age event for our field. In the few short months since the listserv came online, over 400 jobs and related posts have gone on the list. The diversity of job titles, geographies, and education and experience requirements is extraordinary. Consider that in just June of this year job announcements have been made for positions ranging from a driver for a mobile livestock program in Taos, New Mexico, to a healthy food access expert in California, to a business manager for a New York–based food systems consulting firm. Farms, businesses, and community-based organizations are looking for everything from interns to experienced experts in creating the new food system....