{"id":72936,"date":"2021-06-17T10:43:53","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T14:43:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/?page_id=72936"},"modified":"2026-07-02T11:00:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T15:00:07","slug":"career-outlook","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/programs\/gastronomy-food-studies\/career-outlook\/","title":{"rendered":"What Do My Career Options Look Like with a BU Master\u2019s in Gastronomy?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Back to Programs<\/a>Gastronomy & Food Studies<\/a><\/div>\n

Ask the students in the Master of Arts in Gastronomy<\/a> program at Boston University\u2019s Metropolitan College (MET), and you will discover that the imagination is the only limit to an abundance of rewarding career opportunities in the field of gastronomy\u2014aka food studies. The students of gastronomy at BU MET are an ambitious, engaged group of innovators, scholars, thinkers, and practitioners driven by a singular passion for food\u2014or, more specifically, the diverse challenges, issues, questions, interests, concerns, and curiosities that are inherent in humans and their relationship to sustenance.<\/p>\n

In the wake of a pandemic that changed the food industry, the decade ahead is a critical time for those devoted to the study of food. The effect of COVID-19 on the food industry has been devastating (read what restaurateur Fernanda Tapia (MET\u201909)<\/strong> and other BU alumni have to say on the survival of Boston\u2019s restaurant scene in BU Today<\/em><\/a>)\u2014but these challenges also fuel innovation and new approaches to food delivery and supply chains, adjustments to city planning, or a rise in sustainable urban agriculture.<\/p>\n

Opportunities in gastronomy continue to proliferate, and BU MET\u2019s Gastronomy master\u2019s degree program prepares graduates who are insightful, adaptable, and creative. BU\u2019s Gastronomy alumni hold positions in academia, food writing and publications, media and communications, policy, tourism, marketing, food enterprise and distribution, and many other areas. Their range of professions and endeavors is as unusual, exciting, and diverse as they come.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people come into this program who are already working in food, to expand their understanding of what they\u2019re doing and how it fits into the world,\u201d says Dr. Megan Elias, associate professor of the practice and director of the Gastronomy master\u2019s degree program at BU. \u201cIt\u2019s professional development. But we also get career changers. We have someone who\u2019s been an accountant for a long time, but realized she\u2019s always been curious about food. She just wants to pursue that. Maybe it\u2019ll lead her back into accounting in a food business, or maybe she\u2019ll become a food writer. The outcomes for gastronomy graduates are diverse\u2014and some are probably even going to invent careers, which is fun to think about!\u201d<\/p>\n

Food Business Incubation Specialist<\/h2>\n

For instance, what about \u201cfood business incubation specialist\u201d? That was the role that Natalie Shmulik (MET\u201913)<\/strong> invented for herself as a graduate of the Gastronomy master\u2019s program at BU MET. \u201cFor many of us in this program, the careers we want don\u2019t even exist yet,\u201d asserts Ms. Shmulik. \u201cWhen I was a student, I didn\u2019t know what \u2018food business incubation\u2019 was. I had to go out there and create the position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Shmulik is chief strategy and incubation officer at The Hatchery Chicago<\/a>. As she explains in a 2017 interview with Forbes<\/em><\/a> magazine, \u201cAs an incubator, we work with companies at every stage.\u00a0We\u2019ll work with people who are just playing around with the idea of starting a food business. They may be career changers and don\u2019t know what it takes to start a food business, or just new to the field. We’re there to tell them: here\u2019s the certification you need, here’s the documents you need, here\u2019s what to consider, here\u2019s the primary investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

A regular contributor to Food Business News<\/em>, Shmulik was featured in the Chicago Tribune<\/em>\u2019s 10 Business People to Watch in 2020<\/a> and received the Specialty Food Association\u2019s award for leadership in vision.<\/p>\n