A couple years ago some friends and I went to see the raunchy puppet musical Avenue Q on a trip to New York.  I remember great belly laughs while we watched the puppets perform songs like “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” and “The Internet is For Porn”. But underneath the adult rated humor was the underlying story that followed the main character on the typical post-graduate search for a meaningful livelihood with a B.A in English.  This resonated with me as I (like so many 20-somethings) have been looking for my “purpose” ever since I graduated college. I started culinary school after narrowing my passion down to *something that involves food*–still not the MOST narrow calling.  But, yesterday memories of vulgar (sometimes naked puppets) flooded back into my mind, when I think I finally found my calling.

I was inspired in a way I have not been in a long time as I read about the public school system in Batimore. It motivated me to take action and the links introduced me to Farm to School, which lead me to the Healthy School Campaign and a list of other programs developed for Illinois.

As I’m a 26 year old with no kids it may seem odd improving our school lunch program is the cause that pulls at my heartstrings. I  just believe that by getting rid of the garbage our schools get away with feeding kids and educating children about where food comes from we can solve so many other issues in our society (health care anyone?).

So, moving forward I’ve contacted a bunch of the organizations I’ve found to see if there is anything I can do to help them with their cause (in my abundant free time…gah!). If anyone knows of any related opportunities please let me know. And for the long term I now have something bigger to focus on once I’m done with my culinary certificate.