About Me

About me

I am a philosopher of food and a recent Ph.D. graduate of the University of Michigan. I am also a member of the Culinary Mind Center for the Philosophy of Food.

My research focuses on the metaphysics and ethics of food: how social practices shape what foods are and how we understand them, how food practices shape the people we become, and what these questions mean for food systems in practice. My work is grounded in sustained engagement with farmers markets and other local food institutions, and I write and speak for both academic and public audiences.

I serve on the Public Market Advisory Commission (PMAC) for the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, and have worked farmers market stalls vending for Two Tracks Acres, Raindance Flower Farm, and Green Things Farm Collective.

In Summer 2025, I was the Doctoral Food Systems Intern at Growing Hope Urban Farm in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

A Los Angeles native, I did my undergraduate degree at Loyola Marymount University with honors in both Philosophy and Psychology.

I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan with my two cats, Magnus and Tiny Cat.

Contact

emhardy@umich.edu
emmarosiehardy@gmail.com

Upcoming Events

What Makes Food Local? Public Philosophy Exhibit
Ann Arbor Local Food Festival
August 27th, 2026 
Ann Arbor Farmers Market

Recent Talks

Accidental Ethnography at the Farmers Market
Ethnographilosophy Workshop
June 2026, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Cultivating Attention: Food Practices and Spiritual Formation
2026 AFHVS/ASFS Conference
June 2026, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT

We Are What We Eat: Alice Waters, Slow Food, and Moral Agency
Culinary Mind / Gastronomica 
Lecture in Philosophy of Food
March 12, 2026, 5pm est
Online, Recording Here!

Competing Local Food Values
2025 AFHVS/ASFS Conference
June 2025, Oregon State, Corvallis, Oregon