Carla Ulrich
social scientist, food activist, curator, photographer, fermenter
I am a French-German social scientist, food activist, curator, photographer, and fermenter, passionate about understanding the socio-economic complexity of sustainable food production. Next to speaking and writing about it, I am proud to develop solutions on the field with Die Gemeinschaft, a movement uniting Germany’s pioneering food producers and gastronomes.
In my work, I aim to find out how to advance a socially inclusive food system transition, i.e. towards a production model fostering ecological regeneration as much as social justice. That’s why I write, speak and research on agricultural structures, food & climate policy, and social inequalities, asking how good food can become accessible to all. My academic work was first published in 2020 in the journal for emerging researchers PolisReflects, followed by a talk and publication within the 6th International Student Research Conference in 2021. Recently, I shared some thoughts on a panel discussion on sustainable food systems.
At Die Gemeinschaft, I have been co-organising interdisciplinary educational and networking formats for food professionals, all directed at fostering a collaborative food system. Next to that, I have been taking on a leading role at Slow Food Youth Germany, supporting political campaigning and joining its communications team in 2020. To familiarise myself with practical food policy, I completed Slow Food Germany’s Academy programme in 2019. In 2018, I co-founded the non-profit organization Forward Thinking Berlin, dedicated to empowering young environmental and social initiatives.
Because the profound socio-ecological transformations we are facing need to be negotiated collectively, I previously worked as a program curator at re:publica, Europe’s largest conference on the digital societies. With my expertise around food sovereignty and the sustainable development goals, I’ve organized conversations across six international festivals in Berlin, Accra, LA, Detroit, and Portland, involving civil society, policy makers and academia.
Born in Germany and raised in France, I speak fluent German, French, English, and confident Italian. I complement my work with freelance photography, which I’ve been practicing since 2010 and has been published by Mit Vergnügen, Markthalle Neun, Slow Food Germany, Kantine Zukunft and others.
When I’m not doing any of that, I like to ferment fizzy drinks! You can watch my water kefir tutorial on Fermentiersalon, and find recipes I’ve co-developed and photographed in Slow Food Magazin (issues 03/2021 and 05/2021).
Get in touch: ulrich.carla [at] yahoo.fr