Taylor Cocalis and Dorothy Neagle wanted an excuse to spend more time with each other. The two friends — who met while at Cornell University — both moved to New York City after college and spent the next six years working out a way they could collaborate.

Cocalis had been running the education department at Murray’s Cheese, while Neagle was pursuing a career in interior design. “I kept trying to lure Dorothy over to the food world through the lens of sustainability because I knew she had an interest in that,” Cocalis recalls. “We’d been scheming for a little while and had come up with a few ideas, but they’d come to dead ends.”

It wasn’t until a last-minute road trip back up to Ithaca for an event for Cornell grads, that they hit on the right one. While stopping to pick strawberries, Cocalis mentioned to Neagle that people were always telling her how cool her job was and asking how they could get one like it in food. The duo bounced around ideas while picking fruit and began to crystalize a concept they both loved: an online search tool that linked people looking for meaningful work in the food industry with businesses that would benefit from their skills, knowledge, and enthusiasm.

In 2010, they launched Good Food Jobs. Initially, it was a website serving the New York State region, but it quickly expanded nationwide. In the decade since, the almost 60,000 jobs they’ve posted have included all manner of metiers — economists, ecologists, farmers, food artisans, policymakers, restaurateurs, retailers, and more.

While their primary goal was to create a job search tool, the accompanying blog and newsletter have proven to be just as popular. Cocalis, who these days is based just outside of Hudson (and who also runs Suarez Family Brewery), recalls an email they received early on. “It said, ‘I’m not hiring or looking for a job — I just read your newsletter because I love seeing the jobs that you post and connecting with the work and this community.’”

That community, says Neagle, is one of the most rewarding parts of their work. “We thought people would be obviously interested in the jobs, and that the blog would be a nice supplement to it, but we never expected people to engage with the newsletter in the way that they have.”

As is the case with many companies during the past year, the two founders and their team have spent time reflecting on their mission, values, and vision. As a first step, they published a guide on how to write a more equitable job post and are working on a second, more in-depth version. They also initiated a policy to only post jobs with a minimum wage of $10, which will rise to $15 as of January 1, 2022. The gradual change is in part to allow certain businesses — such as small farms who rely on interns and restaurants who accept tips — to adjust their operations to adapt to the increase.

While such policy shifts may be uncomfortable for smaller operations in the food world, both Cocalis and Neagle believe it’s worth it. “Part of the challenge is working out how to support businesses that are potentially doing good work and also encountering systemic issues,” says Cocalis. “But our motivation for change is to help create the environment in which we’re all supporting a more systemic shift.”

Find @goodfoodjobs on the web at www.goodfoodjobs.com

By Mikki Brammer

Images + Graphics: Frances F. Denny, Roxsand King, Cairo Mo & Gina Lorubbio

Volume 7