Learning about food and myself at the “edge of the world” | by Marisa Nicole McKasson | May, 2026 | MediumSitemapOpen in appSign up<br>Sign in

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Learning about food and myself at the “edge of the world”

Marisa Nicole McKasson

4 min read·<br>5 hours ago

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In 2022, fresh out of policy school at Columbia SIPA in New York City, my partner and I packed up our 2010 Subaru Forester and drove the roughly 5,000 miles to Anchorage, Alaska. Neither of us had ever even visited or knew what to expect. He had a job lined up as a legal clerk for a judge in the Alaska Superior Court, and we were excited to take on the adventure of leaving the big city to live at the “edge of the world” for just one short year.<br>Press enter or click to view image in full size

Gathering wild blueberries in Hatcher Pass, Alaska.I planned to take the time to reflect on how I could best use my skills to help people in some small way, whether that meant finding a professional job that fit my new degree and passion for sustainable agriculture, local and cultural foods, and food systems improvement, or something totally different. We spent many hours of the drive listening to Michael Pollan's books about food systems while eating Cheetos. I had no idea just how much I would learn about food systems over the coming years.<br>I have spent my whole adult life working on food issues in some way. Right out of college, I used my Economics degree to help manage Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) research initiatives about agricultural technologies and digital credit, interfacing with funders and professors, running research competitions, and trying to translate complex economic jargon about constraints to smallholder agriculture into digestible policy briefs.<br>In graduate school, I was a teaching assistant for a universal food security class with students from over twenty countries, spent my capstone project interviewing smallholder farmers about solar drip irrigation in India, spent a summer in Rwanda researching farmer’s income preferences, and took on research projects about the coffee value chain in Uganda or whether Nestle lives up to its promise to increase sustainability in the cacao industry. But I didn’t feel what it meant to live and try to improve food systems in a real way until Alaska.<br>One year quickly turned into two and then three. As a food sovereignty program manager for the country’s largest Tribal health organization and then as an Extension educator, I grew in some of the more traditional ways professionally. I continued to manage programs and grants. I organized a convening of tribal health organization employees from across the state to decide on statewide food-focused advocacy priorities. I created newsletters, shared funding opportunities, and helped folks apply for grants.<br>Press enter or click to view image in full size

Pressure canning salmon in Unalaska, Alaska.But I also grew in less traditional ways professionally. I packed up all the food I would need for a week and boarded tiny planes to travel to villages at the edge of the Bering Sea to teach folks how to preserve their fish safely or start a garden (in places where winds regularly reach up to 100 mph and weather can stop the barge with all supplies from coming for weeks at a time). I learned how to cut salmon from village Elders and laughed with aunties about proper jam-making techniques to preserve the bounty of native berries. I learned more than I ever thought I would about composting, and finally understood why my graduate school professor, Dr. Glenn Denning, loves soil science so much. I got sick with food poisoning while in the hull of a tugboat traveling through Prince William Sound and still tried to talk about nutrition facts with schoolchildren. Sometimes, the most important professional skills are curiosity and persistence.<br>Press enter or click to view image in full size

Flying in a small plane in the Aleutian Islands.Alaska is not “the edge of the world” at all. It is a diverse, spectacular place with folks who have been feeding themselves in beautiful food systems since time immemorial. It helped me internalize what it means when folks say that food is “our way of life” and that I want to continue to promote all people’s ability to consume nutritious, culturally-relevant food produced in a sustainable manner.<br>Now, for family and health reasons, I find myself back in New York City and looking for my next opportunity yet again. I am excited to take these lessons and learn how I can positively contribute to this very different but equally spectacular place.

Written by Marisa Nicole McKasson<br>0 followers<br>·1 following

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