“My desire to work in a non-profit comes from Friends, where I learned about actively participating and helping other people. Middle School students could do community service by helping Lower School students during lunch.” Juliet Glass ’87 remembers her time at Friends fondly. In Upper School, Juliet served in soup kitchens and volunteered with community-based organizations. Some of the teachers whom Juliet remembers at Friends as having made a significant impact on her career trajectory include Linda Chu, Larry Carter, Ben Frisch and chemistry teacher Arthur Moore, who was really helpful in making Juliet feel more confident in science and math.
After Friends Juliet went to Reed College and later earned a Ph.D. in history from Johns Hopkins University with a focus on Early Modern Spain. During the academic part of her life, Juliet had both a Thomas J Watson Fellowship (1992-3) and a Fulbright fellowship (1995/6) to study in Spain. Juliet says, “Alas. Turned out I didn't want to be an academic so I spent over a decade working as a food writer and journalist before deciding that I really wanted to do hands-on work in the food systems space.”
Since 2009, Juliet has worked in communications and food systems management in the mid-Atlantic region, primarily with FreshFarm, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that provides innovative solutions to solve food system problems. FreshFarm also offers education-based programs in DC public schools, runs farmers markets and wholesale distribution of local food, and programs to improve food access for those in need. To help empower people from underserved communities, FreshFarm gives anyone who spends federal nutrition benefits at farmers markets free incentive matching dollars. The idea is to increase purchasing power for fresh food and direct nutrition spending to farmers.
“The concept of making a difference by helping others was developed during my time at Friends, so choosing a career in public service speaks for itself.” Juliet feels fortunate to have had a long-term career engaged in food systems work. “Over the years, working with the same group of farmers, watching their families and businesses grow has been great.” As Juliet looks to the future, she is excited about FreshFarm celebrating its 25th anniversary. She envisions the organization increasing its impact across the region building a more sustainable, resilient and equitable Mid-Atlantic food system and giving underserved community members more agency and choice in how they spend their food resources.
Juliet is married to Jeff Lomonaco, who is a senate staffer, and they have two sons (pictured cooking with Juliet). Outside of work, Juliet is very busy with her family doing mom stuff. She loves to cook and to explore farmers markets and finds her chosen field to be endlessly interesting. Juliet has shopped at farmers markets a few times a week for decades and still is discovering new foods and learning new things about how food is grown and made.
“I believe that food is capable of transforming communities and I am deeply committed to the work I do and have met amazing and inspiring people along the way. People who decide to work in agriculture and food systems are very creative, scrappy, and resilient, and I learn from them every single day.”
Juliet encourages current Friends students interested in doing food systems work to start by volunteering. “There are lots of opportunities at food banks, farmers markets, and there are now many sustainability programs in New York City. Many colleges have an Office of Food Sustainability as well as food pantries.”