A personnel ad in this morning’s NY Times caught my eye.  A Forager is needed by Dean and Deluca.  It reminded me of the first time I saw this job title, back in the 1970s when I lived in the Bay Area and Chez Panisse hired staff to look for the distinctive ingredients that shaped their cooking, combing California for interesting suppliers and encouraging growers to invest in cultivating the tastiest varieties of fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and meat.
In the food business the job title and function is old news now. Â It exists in a lot of places, from Whole Foods Market to local restaurant consortia. Â It’s a function that most cultural organizations need — whether we’re foraging for new ideas, new artists, or new partnerships and collaborators. Â How many of us devote full-time staff to foraging?