Calla Explores Food Innovation in the South Bend

I grew up in South Bend, always expecting to leave it some day. However, of all the places I’ve been and lived since high school, South Bend has felt the most like home–so it comes as no surprise that I’ve returned here to serve the South Bend - Elkhart Region as a Civic Innovation Fellow at enFocus.

If you had asked me a few years ago, though, if I’d be working in technology and innovation, I would have honestly probably laughed in your face.

I was an English major at Indiana University-Bloomington, and I also got certificates in Food Studies and the Liberal Arts and Management Program (LAMP). After “graduation” in 2020 (cue sad music), I decided to continue my journey in Food Studies by pursuing a dual degree at Chatham University in Pittsburgh: a Masters of Arts in Food Studies and Masters of Business Administration.

Food Studies, by the way, isn’t culinary school. It isn’t food science, either–and it is certainly not dietetics. Instead, it’s a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to studying how food and agriculture impact our lives through economics, culture and history, sociology, and more. I saw it as a way of improving my own academic and professional skills while also exploring the topic I love most in the world: food. What other kind of program allows you to run a working farm, make your own chocolate and cider, and also consult with small food businesses and write a hundred-page thesis on crowdfunding’s implications for restaurants?

Calla volunteering at Unity Gardens in South Bend.

So, I wasn’t focused on technology and innovation–but my Master’s program helped me understand that there are plenty of intersections between those topics and food.

Now, back in the South Bend - Elkhart Region, I’m excited to see this intersection realized in interesting ways. The Unity Gardens, where I worked for four consecutive summers, continues to do incredible work and expand with their new community center. Collectives of makers such as at Cloud Walking are changing what it means to be local entrepreneurs and are creating community in the process. And writers and authors like Kath Keur are documenting the process of this renaissance that’s happening before our eyes.

Although, of course, I’m going to be expanding my areas of interest with sponsored innovation projects at enFocus, I’m looking forward to seeing what I can bring to this galaxy of businesses in our area–whether it’s by founding my own food project, collaborating with others in the area, or supporting small makers to grow their businesses.