There are many routes into the sustainable food and farming sector: grassroots action; policy work; or farm management to name a few. Last week, Roots to Work teamed up with Royal Holloway University to host a panel discussion exploring careers in food and farming.
We were joined by four inspiring speakers: Alice Brown (Sutton Community Farm), Trin Gong (Southwark Food Action Alliance), Shadi Ambrosini (Brent Council), and Lucy Heyderman (The Food Foundation). They shared their often "squiggly" career journeys, the skills that helped them along the way, and practical advice for anyone on their journey to the sector.
At Roots to Work, we have a commitment to opening out opportunities in the sector to all. If you’re passionate about food, sustainability, and social change, here’s what we learned from our panel on how to take your first steps.
Alice Brown – Sutton Community Farm
The panel kicked off with Alice Brown, Farm Business Manager at Sutton Community Farm. She took us through her varied journey in the food sector, which included a career change programme (On Purpose) that helped her transition into sustainable food.
Sutton Community Farm’s mission is to nourish people, nurture the planet, and cultivate community. Alice explained how they achieve this through diverse roles on the farm, from growing and packing veg boxes to customer service and logistics. One of their key initiatives is a 20-month paid horticulture traineeship, designed to equip future farmers with hands-on skills—something the sector urgently needs.
Her role as Farm Business Manager is broad, covering everything from finances to leadership and people management. She emphasised that each farm manager brings their own strengths, meaning the role can evolve depending on the person in post.
Key advice
- Take risks early in your career it’s easier to explore different roles when you're just starting out.
- Volunteer if you can it’s a great way to gain experience and understand how different organisations work.
Trin Gong – Southwark Food Action Alliance
Trin’s career journey took a major shift when she moved to the UK from Australia. She started as an economist at KPMG but realised she wanted a career with more purpose. After trying different roles, she landed in fundraising for a charity, and then, during the pandemic, transitioned into food systems work.
As a Food Partnership Coordinator, her days are varied—she could be meeting community groups, liaising with businesses, or organising events and workshops. Her work focuses on building relationships and bringing people together to tackle food-related challenges in Southwark.
Top skills for her role
- Strong communication
- Strategic thinking
- Relationship building
Key advice
- It’s OK to change things up ‘I was fearful of change, but that meant I wasn’t listening to myself or what I wanted’
- Follow your interests trying new things can lead you to unexpected opportunities.
- Be kind to yourself career changes can be daunting, but they often lead to more fulfilling work.
Shadi Ambrosini – Brent Council
Shadi coordinates the borough-wide Food Strategy for Brent Council, ensuring that the local food system is fair, equitable and works for everyone. He highlighted the importance of co-production; working closely with residents to shape policies that truly reflect their needs.
His career journey has been anything but linear. Originally planning to become a doctor, he shifted to international development after volunteering in Kenya. He later worked on health inequalities in UK African and Caribbean communities before moving into local government, where he now leads on food policy.
Top skills for his role
- Communication and leadership
- Project management
- Collaboration with diverse stakeholders
- Ability to juggle multiple projects in a fast-paced environment
Key advice
- Be patient your career won’t always follow a straight line, and that’s OK
- Be curious and build a broad skill set every job teaches you something valuable
- Stay flexible and persistent barriers and setbacks are inevitable, but resilience will help you find your way
Lucy Heyderman – The Food Foundation
Lucy is the Citizen Engagement Manager at The Food Foundation, a charity working to create a healthy and sustainable food future for all through research, campaigns, and lobbying. Her role is to ensure that citizens, especially those affected by food insecurity, are able to influence this work through their Food Ambassador programme.
Lucy's day to day work involves finding opportunities to amplify citizens’ voices through internal and external projects and the media. A key project she highlighted was a photo storytelling campaign, where citizens documented their food environments. This was later exhibited in Parliament, bringing real-life experiences to policymakers.
Lucy’s journey started in international development—she grew up in Malawi, worked in India, and then struggled to find her place back in the UK. After many job applications, she secured a role as a volunteer manager at FareShare, which gave her crucial experience in the food sector. She later led on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) at the charity, a role she created herself. Eventually, she made the leap to The Food Foundation—a transition she found daunting but ultimately rewarding.
Key advice
- Keep trying new things it’s never too late to pivot
- Volunteering can open doors it helped her get experience in the sector and step out of her comfort zone
- Strong communication and relationship-building skills are key in this sector
Final Takeaways & Advice
- The sustainable food sector needs passionate, driven people. There are roles for strategists, campaigners, growers, and organisers (and more), so find what excites you!
- Your career path won’t always be linear—and that’s normal. Each experience helps you build skills that can take you in new directions.
- Don’t be afraid to take risks or try something different. Many of our panellists found their way into sustainable food through unexpected routes.
Practical steps to get started
- Explore volunteering opportunities if you have capacity to do so It’s a great way to gain insight into how organisations work and different roles available.
- Build your network. Attend events, reach out to people in the sector, and ask questions.
- Be open to new experiences Your dream job might not exist yet, but your skills and passion can help shape it.
Want to learn more? Download our careers resource here.
Interested in a careers workshop? Get in touch with Roshni roshni.shah@sustainweb.org
