The Fruits of Her Labor

Nessa Richman MPP 1997

For many, high school is but a distant memory of not-so-memorable pep rallies, yearbook photos, and awkward dances. But for Nessa Richman MPP 1997, high school turned out to be a real breakthrough.

"My high school science teacher got me interested in environmental issues," she said. "He opened up an area that took hold of me like no other high school class did."

That hold took her to UMass Amherst, where this Rhode Island native had a self-designed major that married the environment with policy and politics. Eventually, she landed in Austin, Texas, as a volunteer with VISTA, the domestic Peace Corps organization created in 1964.

This led to what she calls her biggest challenge to date: starting a farmer’s market in a low-income neighborhood of Austin.

"I worked with farmers and with the local community," she said of her experience with the Sustainable Food Center. "The farmers market sold only local, organic and pesticide-reduced fruits and vegetables. The experience clicked for me. The environment, agriculture, and people were connected through the farmers market in a very real, tangible way. I knew that this was the environmental issue for me."

Her experience in Texas fueled her interest in going to the Kennedy School, where she further developed an interest in the food-system side of the natural foods market.

"The idea of corporate social responsibility and its relationship with the food system became my focus because I saw a lot of potential for public benefit through shaping the growth of the natural foods market."

It was while she was at the Kennedy School that she met what would become not only her PAE adviser, but also one of her lifelong mentors — Ray Goldberg, professor emeritus at the Harvard Business School.

"Professor Goldberg planted the seeds in my head that have led me to the specific career path that I am forging," Richman said.

That path includes an 87-page report called "The Natural Foods Market: A National Survey of Strategies for Growth," which came out in April and which Richman spent two years researching and writing for her current employer and former PAE client, the Washington, DC-based Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture.

The report is timely. As Richman points out, "Natural foods are fast becoming big business in this country. Each year from 1990 to 1997, the retail market for natural foods grew 15 percent to 25 percent," outpacing the mass market food sales, which rose only 3 percent to 5 percent during the same time period.

However, Richman warns, there are drawbacks. "Consumers need to be educated in order to make the right decisions in the marketplace," she said. "There are two main obstacles to this happening. On the one hand, many employees of mass market supermarkets don’t really understand natural foods, and executives don’t put enough resources behind them. On the other hand, natural foods don’t always have clear, accurate labels. Labeling is a whole other issue."

Now that the report is done, Richman said that in addition to focusing on things she didn’t have time to do as a student — personal reading, gardening, poetry, and monotype printing — she is trying to figure out her next career move.

Of course, she adds, "it would have to be a position in which I could make a difference."