Invasion of Privacy: Dr. Jessica Gilbert-Overland
Photo courtesy of Dr. Jessica Gilbert-Overland
Gilbert-Overland will be missed at Geneseo after her departure this year, but students and faculty alike are excited to see her flourish as she pursues a full time position with the Good Food Buffalo Coalition.
Dr. Jessica Gilbert-Overland is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Sustainability Studies at Geneseo. She has held many positions, including being an alum (class of 2013). These ranged from starting as an adjunct in the Spring of 2020 to being a postdoc and now in her current position as an assistant professor.
Interestingly enough, Gilbert-Overland did not major in geography at Geneseo. When asked what she majored in and what caused the switch, Gilbert-Overland said, “I loved what I was doing, double majoring in French and International Relations. I then took ‘GEOG123: The Developing World’ with Dr. Jennifer Rogalsky and did really well in that class. And she ended up emailing me and saying, ‘You should think about joining the department.’”
Gilbert-Overland then mentioned that she would have triple majored in geography had she not been graduating soon but opted to minor in it. “I like the way that we think about things in geography, and I like how broad of a discipline it is. So I knew that I wanted to pursue that, but it took me a couple years to figure out exactly what I wanted to pursue within geography. And then once I figured that out, I continued into grad school.”
When I asked about Gilbert-Overland’s biggest inspiration, she mentioned co-founder of the Good Food Buffalo Coalition, Rebekah Williams. “She was the one who's always pushed me and inspired me and helped me to navigate the social movement world and the food justice world specifically. And I've just learned so much from her over the years.”
The Good Food Buffalo Coalition is an organization that aims to implement a values-based food purchasing policy in Buffalo Public Schools. State law currently mandates schools to buy the cheapest food options rather than the sources that align more with community values; because of this, the Good Food Buffalo Coalition has had to increase advocacy toward Albany that would expand the scope for school’s food purchase orders. Thankfully, Gilbert-Overland mentioned that there is an executive order by Governor Hochul that “encourages public institutions at the university level to purchase local food. And there's a lot of ways to kind of build upon that. So that's exciting, and there's a lot of potential for students who want to get engaged with that.”
Given the current trends of increased political divisiveness across the country and seemingly across the world, social movement work may become more difficult but more important. Given the current presidential administration's increased hostility toward social justice work, I asked Gilbert-Overland how she stays positive and how others can as well.
“Change just becomes even more critical at the local level. So we have a lot of power at the local level, a lot more power than we have at the state and at the federal level, no matter what. But if we can't change things at those higher levels, and we are demanding change, it needs to come from the local [government]. And so making sure we're taking care of our communities and working from the ground up is really, really important.” Gilbert-Overland continued, saying, “Definitely look at supporting grassroots movements, but even in your own hometown, and making sure that you get involved in local government, get involved in local movements, whatever that looks like for you. That local level is critical, and then, I would say, surround yourself with your people.”
On the importance of building your community, Gilbert-Overland continues, “I think one of the things I love about the work that I do is everyone's values are aligned, and no matter what's going on, we're always uplifting each other. And it can be hard, it can be painful, it can be sad. There's a lot of trauma, but joy is the biggest form of resistance.”
Gilbert-Overland is leaving SUNY Geneseo at the end of the academic year to pursue full-time advocacy work with the Good Food Buffalo Coalition. Her decision to leave was one of the hardest decisions she made, but she mentioned the Coalition is always looking for interns. Hence, members of the Geneseo community are more than welcome to get involved. For more information about the Good Food Buffalo Coalition, visit Good Food Cities- Buffalo.
With final words of encouragement, Gilbert-Overland noted, “I would say, remember that you are building an amazing set of skills and tools at college, even ones that you might not notice or realize right off the top. And those are really important in any form of change-making work. And so recognize that, celebrate that, and see where you fit in, because everyone can fit as a puzzle piece into broader movements. You can hold your piece, trust the rest of us to hold our pieces, and we'll all move forward together. But really remember that you're building an incredible set of skills and tools here, and you can use those in any facet of your life, even if you end up pursuing a major that you might not use down the road. That is great, or something changes in your life. You're still well equipped, you're fine, everything's going to be okay.”