ABOUT

Hi, my name is Sophie and I'm a food nerd. 

I am a PhD Candidate at the Melbourne School of Government, Melbourne Law School where I research food politics with a focus on how institutions develop and implement comprehensive food policies that create healthier, more sustainable and equitable food environments. I have a particular interest in how community projects and civil society activism foreground institutional policy responses. I tutor, and give the occasional lecture in a number of food politics and policy subjects.

I run the Fair Food Challenge which is working with Australian Universities to adopt fair food plans and empowering students to play an active role in creating a better food system. With Fair Food Challenge I have built a portable bicycle kitchen, started a re-use service to cut down on single-use plastic and opened a community grocery store.

In 2016 I completed my masters in sustainable food systems and wrote a thesis exploring the international nutrition politics of Milo. Yes, the milk drink, I'm pretty sure I know more about it than any other person on earth. 

Occasionally I like to play around with more creative projects and put on dinner parties where I get people to eat insects, jellyfish and other delights while contemplating the future of food. I've facilitated community kitchens and plan community food events. 

I helped to set up the Melbourne chapter of the Youth Food Movement and spent some time as a committee member of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance and the Right to Food Coalition. I have a keen interest in connecting eaters to their local and global food environments and making living well, eating ethically and being sustainable an affordable and liveable reality.  

I'm Sydney born-and-bred but moved to Canberra to study Art History, Curatorship and Spanish at the Australian National University. There I completed an honours thesis on art and environmental politics and interned at the National Gallery of Australia. I worked in museum education, festivals and public programs before throwing it in to move to Melbourne to become a full-on food nerd. 

I like to cook, garden and grow indoor plants (though I'm not very good at it). I read obsessively and write occasionally. Every so often I throw myself into a creative endeavour that has nothing to do with food at all. I like to travel, drink far too much coffee and meet curious people.