From Parmigiana to Punjab: CUNY Fulbright Fellow Heidi Exline
Earlier today, I had the pleasure of sitting down with my friend and fellow urban planning student Heidi Exline one last time before she heads off to India for nine months. In less than two weeks, she will be leaving for Ludhiana (a city of around a million people several hours north of Delhi) to study community food security on a Fulbright Fellowship. This spring, Heidi finished her Master of Urban Planning (MUP) at Hunter College with a concentration in sustainable community food systems. She is just one of the many CUNY students and alums doing noteworthy work, both in New York City and beyond.
Heidi’s interest in food didn’t begin in India. It didn’t even begin in New York City for that matter. Heidi’s love of food began as a child, growing up on a farm in Iowa. While she wasn’t at all interested in the corn and soybeans her father grew, she did love cooking with him. She took that love of food with her when she moved to New York City.
During her first four years here, Heidi was employed as a social worker, indulging her interest in food by cooking and eating out at New York City’s many restaurants. However, after four years in social work, Heidi still hadn’t found her niche. She turned to food full time and accepted a job working at Murray’s Cheese. It was then that she decided to pursue food as a career, and spent a summer in Vermont learning to make goat cheese.
Upon returning to New York City, Heidi found it hard to find a job in the cheese world that fit her interests. At the same time, her interests in community education and the non-profit sector began to grow and she eventually landed a job at City Harvest. For the next four years, Heidi enjoyed immersing herself in food. Through City Harvest, she worked with regional farmers and food rescue programs, while reading books about food and taking food-related classes at Hunter College. Two years ago, Heidi returned to school full time to pursue a graduate degree in planning, constructing a self-designed concentration in community food security. While in school, she also worked on food issues and policy for Speaker Christine Quinn’s office.
As Heidi headed towards graduation, she began looking for opportunities to work in her field abroad. With the sponsorship of a professor from the Punjab Agricultural University, Heidi eventually applied to and won a Fulbright Fellowship in Ludhiana. While there, her goal is to piece together the stories of the many residents of the region into a community food assessment that will empower the community to improve food security and access.
For herself, Heidi is also hoping to learn about the connections between food and agriculture in India and the U.S. In her words: “our food system doesn’t happen in a silo – no pun intended.” Learning about these connections will inform and strengthen the work she does in India, as well as the work she will do here in the States upon her return. In the end, she wants to better understand urban-rural linkages and how cities can support sustainable regional food systems. Understanding these sorts of linkages and how they can contribute to sustainability is something that we are all about here at the Institute. We wish Heidi the best of luck in her pursuit.
