I have been eating food for nearly 30 years. It all started with my mom and dad – they both cooked everyday. We had a big garden from which I collected tomatoes, squash, beans, lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, herbs. . . . I can remember going out to the garden to fetch a tomato, rinsing it, slicing it up and eating it while it was still warm from the sun. This was an after school snack.
I am a musician. This is what I was trained to do. I fell into the business world when confronted with the reality of being a starving musician. It took a few years of thinking I was going to get on track with being a working musician before I realized that I love my work.
Currently, I work for Bloomingfoods, a natural foods grocery cooperative in Bloomington, Indiana. My job title of ’Systems and Planning Coordinator’ includes things like business planning, project management, systems creation, evaluation, and improvement, and management of all things tech related. My most recent work includes project management for the building a lovely little grocery store, the launching of a new website for the co-op, and the facilitation of our annual planning process.
I want more people to eat wonderful local food. I want my little boy to grow up into a world where farmers are your neighbors and you know the chickens your eggs come from.
I try to create this world one conversation or meal at a time. I think it is possible and so I go out into the world each day knowing that I have things to learn and things to teach.
Thanks for reading.
- Jenn Hileman
