Sydney Zuckerman’s journey to her new position as distribution and business manager at Canticle Farm in Allegany is one of completing a full circle.

Growing up in Olean, she was familiar with Canticle Farm and its mission, as her family has been longtime CSA shareholders. In addition, her home always had a vegetable garden and she was fortunate to experience the freshest of food.

“When I was about 12, I joined my father at Canticle to volunteer, and greatly enjoyed my time harvesting vegetables and spending time with my dad in a beautiful environment,” she said. “During my visits, I appreciated meeting those who grew my food and knowing specifically where my food was grown.

“Food tastes better when you can be sure it is natural and grown only a couple of miles from your home,” she added. “Although I didn’t understand it yet, this is where my passion for food systems began.”

Canticle Farm, a ministry sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany (FSA), was founded in 2001 to provide fresh, healthy, locally grown food using sustainable farming methods without the use of synthetic or chemical applications.

After attending Syracuse University as an undergraduate, Zuckerman was exposed to topics like food geography and food policy, which led her to join the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) network, an international organization of organic farms accepting homestays.

As a “WWOOFer,” she worked on various organic farms throughout the U.S. in exchange for food and housing. From a tomato and citrus farm, to a permaculture farm, to a subsistence farm and many others, she met many communities that were doing their best to create sustainable food systems for themselves and their loved ones.

Canticle Farm is exploring new ways to get more locally grown produce onto tables in the Olean-area community.

Zuckerman said the experience was not only a unique way to travel the country, but more importantly it helped her understand how organic farming supports local communities and how local systems can support organic farming.

She then attended the University at Buffalo to obtain a Master’s of Urban Planning. At UB, she concentrated on food systems planning, which involves understanding and organizing the chain of activities related to getting food from the farm onto consumers’ plates. The goal of food systems planning is to create, foster and support food systems in order to create, foster and support healthy and sustainable communities.

Zuckerman noted the majority of food grown in the U.S. has undergone a “long and arduous journey” to local tables, impacting social, environmental and economic systems along the way.

“My greater goal is to expand the availability of healthy, local and naturally grown foods in our area, which is part of my ‘why’ for joining the Canticle Farm team,” she said.

After graduate school, Zuckerman worked in transportation planning, mainly making maps and selecting safe routes for school transportation across the country. However, all the while, she said she couldn’t stop thinking about food systems. She then worked for an overnight summer camp in the Finger Lakes as an assistant director. Although there was much that she loved in her roles at the camp, she still couldn’t get food off her mind.

“All I could think about was our food waste at camp,” she said.

Zuckerman moved back to the Olean area and found herself in another part of the food system — the restaurant industry.

“I was finally working with food, however, the products we received were nothing like I was used to on organic farms, from Canticle or from our family’s backyard garden,” she said. “I knew that we could do better, but the systems were simply not in place to get local, naturally grown or organic food at the restaurant.”

This all led her to the new position at Canticle Farm, where Zuckerman will work in communications, administrative tasks, farmhand duties and organizing markets.

A major focal point is relaunching the Tuesday market at North Farm (3809 Old State Road).

“Not only will we have our own produce for sale, but we will also have a range of products from local farmers and producers,” Zuckerman said, adding that with updates to the market space, such as a new freezer, Canticle Farm is able to expand what it offers to the community.

She said she has enjoyed researching different products that may appeal to customers and discovering new things about her home region.

“I very much look forward to engaging with our community at the market and creating relationships throughout the season,” she said.