Hello Everyone! And welcome to the monthly newsletter for Harvard Alumni in Wine and Food.
Our community has benefited from two significant injections of energy this month. The first is the boon of 800+ new recipients of this newsletter, thanks to alums who expressed interest in our SIG at the latest
Global Networking Night. Welcome! And we look forward to your participation in our events and conversations.
The second injection of energy comes directly from the annual
Alumni Leadership Conference (ALC), held in Cambridge in February, where Club and SIG leaders from around the world gather to network and share best practices. Every time I've gone, it's felt like an injection of adrenaline and motivation to connect more of us over our shared enjoyment of food and wine.
Which brings me to a refinement of the mission statement for this SIG.
When I founded the SIG back in 2009, the original intention was to connect undergrads who are interested in this "non-traditional" career path (as food and wine was labeled then) with alumni professionals who are already active in the industry. That's still true, very much so.
These past few weeks, however, thanks to some lightbulb moments at the ALC, I've seen the sense of expanding that intention.
Not only do we want to support robust networking opportunities for students, we'd also like encourage thoughtful consumption of what we eat and what we drink.
This will take shape, and has already been taking shape, in several ways.
- To expand the network of food and wine liaisons at geographically-based Clubs around the world. Jeff Helfrich, president of the Harvard Club of Dallas, offered this suggestion for his group specifically and it's a template that can be scaled to Clubs everywhere: "The Harvard Club of Dallas has a local Food and Wine SIG that does events around the city and is always looking to showcase Harvard grads and their food & wine ventures. If you have ties to Dallas, please reach out to club President Jeff Helfrich and he'll do his best to find ways to collaborate."
- To share provocative alumni contributions to the conversation. Last month's feature of Nicholas Kristof and Cheryl WuDunn's Tightrope (centered in Yamhill, Oregon) is an example, along with this month's feature of Richard Shepro's essay on the historical origins of pairing wine with food (see below). There are so many more contributions in multiple formats, from art to film to public policy, and I look forward to hearing about them and sharing them here.
- To curate videos of alums and community members doing interesting projects in food and wine, such as Josh Bernstein building a salad in Asheville and Apollonia Poilâne building a sandwich in Paris. (Stay tuned for that!)
- To expand and share our calendar of events. There are several already in the works, from the Napa Valley and western North Carolina to Long Island and Paris. In the meantime, please consider signing up for the newsletter of the Food Literacy Project on campus: it's robust with events and job opportunities, and it helps us keep a finger on the pulse of what's happening with students and young alums.
So. What can you do? How can you help with this next phase of evolution for the SIG?
Answers to those questions closely align with the bullet points above.
- Help us build the database of Clubs and SIGs with food and wine liaisons. Already have one for your Club or SIG? Or want to build out the database? Please let us know.
- Know about an alum contribution to thoughtful consumption of food and wine that we can feature? Please let us know.
- Want to create a video to share your work or passion in food and wine? Or want to build out the YouTube channel? Please let us know.
- Have an event scheduled or in the works? Or want to build out the calendar? Please let us know.
I look forward very much to your thoughts and suggestions in response, and to meeting you IRL (I hope!) at some point along the way.
Warm regards,
Cathy Huyghe
Phone: +1.702.528.3717
