IFT Proud Member Focus: Meet Jay Gilbert

How do you identify??

I identify as gay man and go by the pronouns he/him.

What is your background?

Food has always been my passion. For as long as I can remember I aspired to be a pastry chef. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I stumbled across food science. I decided I would apply to 1 school for food science (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), 1 for baking and pastry arts (Johnson & Wales University), and my local community college. After seeing job postings for an entry level product development role, I was sold on studying food science. Fortunately, I got into UMass and the rest is history. I then went to Purdue University for my PhD. While I was at Purdue, I received a fellowship to do a research project in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia understanding if whey protein fibrils could support the growth and differentiation of human stem cells for potential applications as scaffolding systems. Getting the opportunity to collaborate with a different department was one of the highlights of my academic career.

In my spare time I still love to bake and travel. My newest COVID hobbies are home improvement projects and woodworking. A live-edge wood slab and some epoxy is my happy place!

How has being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community impacted you personally and/or professionally?

Being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community has played the biggest role in shaping who I am, both personally and professionally. I grew up in a small town in northern New Hampshire and like many small towns, diversity was not something often seen or discussed. I remember trying to figure out why I felt different when no one around me seemed to be experiencing what I was feeling. I didn’t want to be different. I didn’t ask to be different. I just was different, and I didn’t know why. I didn’t want to stand out for the wrong reasons, so I suppressed that side of me so I could blend in.

When you suppress who you really are for that long, you have to find confidence and self-worth in other areas. For me, that came in the form of keeping myself busy and putting all my effort into school, extracurriculars, and volunteering. Fortunately, that’s also how I found the path to accepting myself for who I am.

My first time attending IFT’s Annual Event was the first time I came out to anyone. It was at the IFTSA Closing Party and I made friends with some IFTSA leaders. As the party was wrapping up, several of them said they were heading to a gay bar. I nervously asked if I could join, and at that moment IFTSA became my safe space. It became the space where I could be myself in all aspects of my life.

What advice do you have for somebody to be a part of the community within the food industry?

Don’t shy away from being different. The world is entering an era of drastic change where we need to think differently about addressing the complex challenges of today and tomorrow. Your unique way of thinking could be the spark that finds a solution. The science of food community shares a common passion for how food and beverage unite people. That deep understanding of something that connects all of us comes with a duty to use that knowledge for good. We have a duty to apply what we know to shape the future of food so that all populations are better off tomorrow than they are today.

What do you hope to see in the food industry or IFT?

I hope our profession can continue to increase our involvement in the public conversation about food. The more we can promote diverse people within our profession, the more they’re able to amplify our message to diverse audiences to stay involved in the dialogue and hopefully improve it.

How do you think IFT Proud can best provide support to the LGBTQIA+ community in the food industry and beyond?

Keep being a platform to share our stories. The more people realize that everyone has their own personal journey that has influenced who they are, the more people will appreciate different opinions and viewpoints. You’ll also never know if your story will touch someone at the time they need it most.