Food and Agriculture UChicago Grad School Social @ Farmhouse Chicago

This winter FEAD , the Harris School of Public Policy's Food Policy and Advocacy (FoPo) group, the UChicago Law School Food Law Society (FLS), and the UChicago Grad School Council hosted over 60 graduate students at Farmhouse Chicago for a food and agriculture soiree extravaganza. The issues of food, agriculture, and nourishing a growing global population span business, policy, science, medicine, engineering and more. So why not get everyone together in the same room to discuss their interests in food/ag from diverse perspectives. This can go a long way towards building relationships and multidisciplinary idea generation. 

There is significant interest in this space from the graduate and broader UChicago community. The Harris School of Public Policy has the Food Policy Group, The Law School has the Food Law Society, and Booth has the Food, Environment, Agribusiness, and Development (FEAD ) Group. Additionally, there is the UChicago Environment, Agriculture, and Food (EAF-- http://eaf.uchicago.edu) academic working group and the Feeding the City project (feedingthecity.uchicago.edu), both composed of graduate and undergraduate students. Finally, last year the UofC Center for International Studies hosted a multi-part series on Global Food Security, bringing global leaders and thinkers together to discuss the issues. Oh, and did we mention that Chicago is a global leader in agricultural commodities and conveniently located in the heartland of American food production. Stay tuned for more of these events in upcoming quarters.  

 Upstairs Room at Farmhouse Chicago, owned and operated by TJ Callahan, a Booth Alumni

From Left to Right: Tyler White (FEAD Co-Chair; Business School), Lindsey Haymes (FoPo Co-Chair; Policy School), Phil Caruso (FLS Co-Chair; Law School), Kaci Farrell (FoPo Co-Chair; Policy School), Carolyn Kriss (FEAD Co-Chair; Business School)

How to Ace a CPG Marketing Interview

This past January, FEAD brought Randy Bangs, an expert on Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) food company interviews, to campus to lead a session for FEAD members on how to ace a CPG marketing interview. Sessions like these are invaluable for helping aspiring CPG marketers break into the industry and job function.

Roundtable Discussion on Managing A Global Agribusiness Brand

FEAD was delighted to host Paul Hillen, Vice President of Corporate Brand and Marketing; and Global Growth, Innovation, and Marketing for Food Ingredients and Systems at Cargill. Mr. Hillen joined a small group of students for a roundtable lunch to discuss the challenges of managing a global brand at Cargill and current brand positioning. FEAD regularly organizes intimate roundtables for its student members with leaders in the global food value chain to discuss ideas and explore challenges in the food system. 

ConAgra Visits FEAD

ConAgra Foods visited FEAD members this past Fall to discuss the company and job opportunities for MBAs. Not everybody knows that Booth's campus, the Harper Center, is named after famous Booth alumni and former ConAgra CEO, Charles Harper. He rescued ConAgra from near bankruptcy in the '70s and drove the stock up 177-fold in 18 years. ConAgra has many exciting opportunities for MBAs interested in food manufacturing and famous brands.