Story by Liz Holland
Alumni of the Colorado State University Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition take on interesting jobs after completing their degrees. Lindsey Morales and James McDonald discuss how they get started in their careers.
Lindsey Morales, Hospitality Management Program
Lindsey Morales (’12) has applied her education and skills from attending the Colorado State University’s Hospitality Management Program to create her own business and blog; Lindsey Morales Consulting, LLC with the food blog Salty Lemon Sister under its umbrella. Her blog and consulting business focus on empowering people to “break the recipe cycle” by offering meal planning consultations, cooking classes, product reviews, and original recipes. Morales will be rolling out a new course in 2021 featuring “fun and practical cooking techniques, healthy eating, food budgets, and more!”
Morales first got the idea for Salty Lemon Sister in 2019, from her neighbor who works with bloggers who have started their own companies. Morales was immediately interested, and knew she wanted to write about food and cooking. Salty Lemon Sister has been her passion ever since, and she loves the creativity required for blogging, and foodie community she has built. “I love that I get to work with food,” she said, “and that I get to help other foodies in my 1:1 course learn how to level up their cooking skills and cut waste, without blowing the budget.”
James McDonald, Fermentation Science and Technology Program
James Macdonald (’17) received a homebrewing kit when he was 21, starting a cascade of events leading to his career working in brewing and fermentation. As a native of Fort Collins, Macdonald has always been immersed in the brewing scene. His mother worked with New Belgium starting the bike-in movie program as a fundraiser for a non-profit. At high school, Macdonald loved to help his mom and is now so proud of how big the program has grown.
“My first homebrew was an old ale from a kit purchased at a small homebrew shop,” said Macdonald. “Following my first ever brew day, I excitedly discussed the process the next morning on the morning radio show after the news. Since I was a regular at the Horsefly, which was the brewpub near my house, I was there that afternoon. I was then approached by the owner who offered to introduce me to the head brewer, Nigel.
Nigel was a British expat who was raised in colonial Kenya to a family of hoteliers. He was an experienced brewer and showed me the ropes of brewing in a small brewpub. The brewing system they used was a cobbled-together mix of old dairy equipment, homemade burners, and secondhand brewing vessels. Learning how to make do with that equipment, as well as Nigel’s hilarious personality, caused me to absolutely fall in love with the process of brewing beer.”
Macdonald found his way to the CSU Fermentation Science and Technology Program and knew he had found his “forever career.” Macdonald currently works as a learning and development specialist for Molson Coors Beverage Company.
The Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition is part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
