We are so excited to welcome Beth and Katie to the Soft Landing Missoula team! They will be leading our very popular food based programming- United We Eat– allowing us to not only offer you delicious food, but also the opportunity to help support refugee and immigrant chefs in our community by creating essential supplemental income. Adding Beth and Katie to our team means that there is so much delicious stuff coming your way! While United We Eat is a program of Soft Landing Missoula, it does have it’s own website and email list. We highly encourage anyone interested in great food from around the world to visit unitedweeatmt.org and sign up for the email list so you don’t miss out! There you can also find more information about our amazing chefs and our upcoming cookie sales, United We Eat @home, and more!
Beth Baker joins us as the United We Eat Program Manager:
Beth grew up in Germany and Syria, and moved every few years as a child. She studied English as an undergraduate at North Park University in Chicago, and then got a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies at the University of Montana. In between, she learned Arabic, lived in a small Palestinian village for two and a half years, and spent years migrating between Alaska in the summer and Missoula in the winter. All of the moving she’s done has given Beth a lot of empathy for people moving to new places, especially for people fleeing violence and persecution.
Beth is thrilled to be back in Missoula after a seven year sojourn to the Pacific Northwest, where she worked in agriculture and hunger relief, managing programs that increased fresh food available to food bank participants. She is so excited to join the Soft Landing Missoula team, and work with Missoula’s refugee community on the United We Eat program, combining her delight in delicious food with the joys of building community and putting down roots.
Katie Kirwan joins us as the United We Eat Kitchen Manager
A lifer in the restaurant business Katie has always had a passion for creating community through food. Growing up in Boston, moving to Colorado and now living in Missoula she has learned to adapt to new places and make new friendships. She aims to share her experiences with our members and help them create a solid foundation here in Missoula. After graduating from Johnson & Wales culinary program she has worked in all aspects of the restaurant world from cooking to dishwashing and managing the front of the house. She credits the hospitality industry for the ability to move and connect so fluently within the culinary culture. She loves people and sharing her story through food and is excited to get cooking!
Welcome home Beth and Katie!