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Ruth Solomon ’19 came to °ÄÃÅÂí»á´«Õæ for the Culinary Arts program because of her love of food and cooking. But, by the end of her time at °ÄÃÅÂí»á´«Õæ, she chose to pursue a new love — sustainability.

During her first weeks at °ÄÃÅÂí»á´«Õæ, Solomon discovered Student Activists Supporting Sustainability (SASS) and decided to join. She earned an A.S. in Culinary Arts through the College of Culinary Arts and then continued on to earn a B.A. in Culinary Arts and Food Service Management through the College of Hospitality Management.

“I definitely feel inspired by some of the classes I took. Overall, °ÄÃÅÂí»á´«Õæ has been such a good education because there’s so much variation,” she said. "There are so many amazing professors and teachers here.”

But, an internship at , a gleaning initiative for food rescue and recovery, cemented her decision to pursue a career in sustainability and waste prevention rather than food service or culinary arts.

“Leading up to that internship, I had started realizing that there’s a lot of waste, particularly with food,” said Solomon. “Once I did that internship, it really changed my perspective on what I wanted to do with food, because you can’t work with food without waste.”

She also represented °ÄÃÅÂí»á´«Õæ several times at the annual , a national conference that brings together college students to discuss and learn more about sustainability and environmental justice efforts. It was at that conference where she first found her mantra: Waste is just resources in the wrong place.

“That’s how I live my life,” she said. “I do what I can and try to inspire people around me. Everyone is at a different level of knowledge about sustainability, and that’s okay. We don’t all have to be perfect, we just all have to do something.”