Joan Squeri

Social Entrepeur, Market Program Manager

Cambridge Farmers' Markets

For the first few decades of my life, curiosity about food served as a tool to enter world cultures and as a way to explore flavors and textures of food itself. For the last several years, however, my explorations have focused with increasing intensity on the the ways that we humans have chosen to cultivate, share and consume this fundamental resource. Examining who cultivates, who processes, who distributes, processes and ultimately, who receives'which' food, has caused me to reexamine many of my own beliefs and to see food with entirely new eyes. The sociological and even anthropological reasons behind our individual beliefs about food- how much it should cost as a part of out total income--its value both as a source of nutrition and as a source of pleasure-- make for very real economic, health and environmental consequences. I hope to share some of these questions, insights and observations about food with my neighbors. Most recently I am studying how Cambridge can learn from other successful markets and market places.