500 weeks stronger

Today's is the 500th edition of this weekly newsletter, and in some ways it feels like we're back where we started.

Good Food Jobs came to life, in part, as a result of the 2008 recession. We noticed that as the 'cush' salaried positions in finance, insurance, and other 'professional' areas became less available and/or lucrative, many folks re-evaluated their career choices and re-focused their efforts on finding work that was meaningful. For many of us, this meant pursuing a passion for food.

There are myriad 'good food jobs' that don't have much to do with the kitchen, but for those interested in restaurant work, the job seemed recession-proof. Everyone has to eat. Restaurants always need dedicated staff - especially in a high turnover industry, where a focus on the 'good' behind the food was essential.

The last two weeks find us in a state of collective crisis, at once strangely familiar and shockingly different. This time around, the jobs that we once considered safe are precisely the ones hit the hardest. Restaurant work has been obliterated in the course of a week, and it will likely take a long time to come back.

So many things have been put in perspective, not least of which is how insane it seems to us that while we touted the importance of sustainability in food jobs, we didn't foresee the fragility of the many restaurants that post with us. We've always said that sustainability, in the food world, isn't just a metric for the edibles - it also pertains to the way establishments treat their employees and their customers. And now we see, more clearly than ever, that it must mean financial viability, as well. Most, if not all, restaurants survive month to month on the guarantees we outlined above. But in a world with fewer guarantees, the speed of collapse takes our breath away.

The contrast is that while many of us feel like we've been thrust off the hamster wheel, others are moving at twice the speed. If you work in the food industry and you haven't been laid off, you might be working in overdrive: grocery story workers tirelessly restocking and ringing up sales, farm stands starting the season early to help folks stock their pantries, breweries and other beverage purveyors filling at-home bars with enough drinks to last through this sea change, however long that may be.

A recent weekend spent walking for hours around New York City and sharing a long brunch at Prune, a restaurant in which we'd both been eager to spend a lingering visit (we started with the light-as-air sour cream and cumin seed omelette, then split the steak and eggs, and a generous serving of fresh ricotta dressed in figs, raspberries, honey, pine nuts and the most wonderfully warm, palm-sized, orange-scented scones) seems worlds away. Yet the love for these spaces and kitchens that feed us and provide a table for our memories is just as real and immediate now as it ever was.

Which is why we're holding onto some of the ideals that influenced us when we started GFJ: slowing things down, simple pleasures, operations that integrate with nature...and investing your time and money in the things that matter most to you, which so often comes down to what's on your plate and who you share it with (no matter if your 'face time' is live or via an app). With all the frightening prospects to consider amid the seriousness of this public health crisis, we are also looking for beauty in the eye-opening reminders it provides:

EVERY WEEK WE LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE . . .

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