Faces Attorney carves career in being a foodie I
t didn’t make much sense that Alli Condra developed an interest in food- and agriculture-related
issues. The daughter of a retired ELCA
pastor, she grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of Manhattan Beach, which is hardly farming ter- ritory. But something kept drawing her to food, even though she wasn’t sure exactly what that meant. After several stops along the
way, Condra, a lifelong Lutheran looking for a new home congre- gation, is an associate attorney in Portland, Ore., focusing on policy issues facing the food, beverage and restaurant industries. “How to change policy can
impact a lot of people and help people live a healthier life,” Condra said. After graduating from Califor-
nia Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, she spent a year in Mexico, during which she conducted a sur- vey on food security for the migrant workers in the area. Condra later attended law school and planned to work in
For Alli Condra, helping people live healthy lives is a major tenet.
“Regulations are important, but you don’t need to ‘put people out of business for us to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.’ ”
to the online “Food Safety News” publication before moving more toward work that would help local and regional food growers. Her current work involves not
only assisting her community in being able to access healthy food, but also helping small agriculture businesses to not go bankrupt as they try to comply with govern- ment regulations. Regulations are important, she
said, but you don’t need to “put people out of business for us to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.” Helping more people live healthy lives is a major tenet for
government on issues such as school lunches. But law school “exposed me to a lot more options,” she said. She served as a policy intern for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency and was a contributor
Condra. “It drives my career choices,” she said. “We are using the law to help and support businesses that are going to sustain our healthy food system going forward.”
Author bio: Favre is an assistant professor at Pierce College in Los Ange- les and a freelance theater critic.
By Jeff Favre
100 + birthdays
104: Dorothy “Dee” Kuhlman, First, Decorah, Iowa. 101: Eleanor Hultman, Spring Garden, Cannon Falls, Minn. 100: Hazel Bailey, United Redeemer, Zumbrota, Minn.; Edith Dixon, St. Paul, Crouse, N.C.; Ruth Grohmann, Faith, McDade, Texas; Marjorie Hallett, Prince of Peace, Johnsonville, Pa.; Julian Holter, Grand Valley,
Canton, S.D.; Fern Nelson, Our Savior, Sherwood, N.D.; Gladys Trygstad, East St. Olaf, Rock Dell, Minn.
Send stories Share your stories of ELCA Lutherans and your 100+ members in “Faces.” Send to
lutheran@thelutheran.org or “Faces,” The Lutheran, 8765 W. Hig gins Rd., Chicago, IL 60631.
January 2016 43
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