Pittsburgh

I went to Pittsburgh for a conference recently, and it was more fun than anyone should have at work.

Firstly the conference was hosted by Catalyst Kitchens, and I have decided I should only ever go to conferences with Chefs. I ate so well, I learned so much, and I was being paid to learn about how to be better at food, education, workforce development and culinary programs. i.e. Food. I got paid to eat and talk about how important food is to too of us.

Yeah, it did not suck.

I had the privilege of attending with a colleague, a trained chef, and that also meant she’s scoped out the places to eat, and visit outside of the conference. Now, we didn’t get to do a ton of that, since the conference literally fed us all but one of our meals.

There were many, many highlights of the conference, I met amazing people running organizations, culinary teaching programs, social ventures and all of the above. I left feeling like I had a network, many others working in food insecurity, education and because food is everything. It’s needed to survive, but the act of cooking for someone carries meaning. The smell of food can transport us to somewhere else. The feeling of safety and security of a good meal. It’s fundamental to the human experience in a way I didn’t understand before working in/around kitchens and chef’s.

Yes, it’s food, but it’s also so much more. It’s community building, it’s caretaking, it’s love. That takeaway for me was the deepest and most fundamental shift in my understanding of the work we are all doing. It was truly transformational for me. I can’t wait for the next gathering.

In addition to the incredible community, we also had the very special opportunity to celebrate Jacques Pépin’s 90th birthday (this year), and get to hear from the legend himself via video. I also learned about the fantastic work of the Jacques Pépin Foundation. A funder who truly invests in their grantees, trusts them to spend the money to the highest and best use of the organization. I was truly impressed by the people I met from the foundation who took a genuine interest in my organizations work, and me as a person. That itself was a wonderful connection.

Given that I was kept busy at the conference, I didn’t get to be a very thorough tourist.

However, next time I’m in Pittsburgh, I have a list of chef recommended places to visit. I did have a moment on a break at the conference to head to the National Aviary, and feed Lorikeets, and yes, it was as awesome as it sounds.

I was also able to make it to the Duquesne Incline and to the Pittsburg Botanical Garden (the larger one out of town.) Both were very cool. Although the uber driver did just let us off in the middle of the highway by the entrance of the Incline, just to keep us on our toes.

So yes, I learned, I networked, I ate like royalty, and I fed lorikeets. Not bad for a work trip. Thanks, Pittsburgh — you’ve officially earned a spot on my ‘work travel done right’ list. Till next time!