Dirt, Desire, and Damn Good Coffee: My Life from Paterson to Engadine
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Hey, I’m Miles. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, back in ’77, but don’t hold that against me. I’m a former sexology researcher turned writer, and these days you’ll find me in Engadine, NSW, writing for the AgriDating project on agrifood5.net. Yeah, that’s a real thing. Eco-friendly clubs, activist dating, and why what’s on your plate matters as much as who’s across from it. That’s my beat.
Look, I’ve made a mess of relationships more times than I care to count. But that’s exactly why I got into sexology. You don’t study desire from a safe distance – you live it, fumble through it, and maybe, if you’re lucky, come out the other side with something useful to say. I spent years working with the Australian Society of Sexologists, ran workshops in Surry Hills, did research on how stress affects libido. Boring stuff to some, but it taught me that authenticity beats technique every time. The thing that breaks my heart? People think they’re broken because they don’t fit some mold. I’ve been there. Trust me, you’re not broken. Just… differently wired.
Engadine. Say it slow – En-ga-dine. It’s not the kind of place you pass through accidentally. You end up here. Tucked between the Royal National Park and the Woronora River, it’s got this quiet, stubborn charm. Old Bush Road winds through like a vein, and if you turn onto Caldarra Avenue, you’ll see the Engadine Bowling Club where I’ve had more flat whites than I can remember. The air smells like eucalyptus and wet earth after rain. I live on a side street off Woronora Road, and every morning I walk past the Engadine Public School where my kids – well, not mine, but the neighborhood kids – play. This town taught me that community isn’t about grand gestures. It’s about showing up at the Engadine Tavern on a Tuesday night and nodding to the same faces.
My past? I was a sexology consultant. Ran a small practice in Cronulla, did couple’s therapy, even helped design a dating app based on attachment theory – that one crashed and burned, but the lessons stuck. Then I got tired of the clinical grind. Now? I write for the AgriDating project over at agrifood5.net. Specifically, I cover Engadine. Sounds weird, right? A sexologist writing about a suburb? But here’s the connection: food, dating, and eco-activism are tangled. I write about where to forage wild fennel near the Woronora River, or which eco-friendly clubs – like the Green Shed Collective on Engadine Avenue – host singles nights with zero-waste canapés. I’ve turned my research into articles like ‘Why Your First Date Should Be a Farmers Market’ and ‘The Erogenous Zones of a Native Garden.’ It’s niche. But it works. And I’m telling you, the Eat Drink Nights event in Engadine’s Town Square this past Easter Thursday and Good Friday from 5pm to 9pm was a goldmine for connections. Street food, international cuisine, a relaxed vibe – it’s the kind of low-pressure setting where real chemistry happens, not that forced small talk over overpriced cocktails[reference:0].
I was eleven when my family moved from Paterson to Engadine. 1988. The culture shock was brutal. In Paterson, I knew every crack in the sidewalk. Here? I got lost on the way to Engadine High School – that big brick building on Porter Street. I remember hiding in the bush behind the school during lunch, reading old Playboys I’d stolen from the Engadine Newsagency. That’s probably where my interest in sexuality started. By sixteen, I was volunteering at the Engadine Community Centre’s youth group, and by eighteen, I’d had my first real relationship – with a girl named Chloe who worked at the bakery on Old Bush Road. We’d sneak into the Royal National Park after dark, spread a blanket near Karloo Pool, and talk about everything except what we were actually doing. Those years shaped me. Messy, awkward, beautiful.
December 10th, 1977. St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson, New Jersey. My mother always said I came out screaming like I was already late for something. Paterson was rust and ambition, old factories and new immigrants. Our apartment on East 18th Street smelled like my father’s cigarettes and my mother’s pot roast. Winter meant snow piled so high you couldn’t see the curb. Summer meant the fire hydrants exploding open. I was a curious kid – too curious. By seven, I’d figured out where babies came from, not from a book but from listening to my aunt gossip in Italian. That curiosity never left. It just got… redirected.
AgriFoodGeneral Information A5: Knowledge, Training, and Education for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Many of today’s global challenges have a high priority on international agendas. These challenges include issues of climate change, food security, inclusive economic growth and political stability, which are all directly related to the agriculture-food-environment nexus. Solutions to these global challenges will require transformations of the world’s agricultural and food systems. This need for disruptive changes that will lead to these transformations, motivated five top-ranked academic Institutions in the domain of agriculture, food and sustainability to join forces and to form the A5 Alliance (working title). The A5 founding members - China Agricultural University, Cornell University, University of California Davis, University of Sao Paulo, and Wageningen University & Research - are recognized globally for their scientific knowledge, research expertise, teaching and training in sustainable agriculture and food systems. In order to inform, enhance and lead these essential global transformations the A5 Alliance is committed to developing new knowledge and expertise, and to train the next generation of leaders, experts, critical thinkers, and educators. This is expressed by our vision: Sustainable Transformation of Agriculture and Food Systems We commit ourselves to a common mission: Advanced Knowledge, Education and Training for Future Leaders in Sustainable Agri- Food Systems Ambitions of A5 It is our collective responsibility to enable academic institutions to become more adaptive and agile to societal changes. Therefore, our ambitions are: to expand our collaborative research activities to educate, train and deliver the next generation of experts and leaders in sustainable agri-food systems to be a global partner in the research and policy arena, and to develop into a globally recognized independent and unbiased Think Thank to be a global advocacy voice for the role and position of universities in the public debate. Our strategies and activities A5’s scientific expertise is tremendous and highly complementary. We employ over 10,000 scientists, of whom many are in the top 100 of their field of expertise globally. Many of our scientists are involved in teaching at all academic levels. We represent a collective knowledge-base that is unprecedented across the science, engineering, and social sciences disciplines. Through this collective knowledge-base we offer a comprehensive global approach to societal challenges in the agri-food-environment nexus, such as in areas of biotechnology, circular economy, climate change, safe water, sustainable land-use practices, and food & nutritional security, often strongly related to international agenda’s such as the SDGs. Examples of transformational topics that A5 intends to work on include the management, synthesis and analysis of huge data streams (big data) in the agriculture and food, developing and introducing automation and robotics in agriculture, sustainable intensification of agro-food production, reducing food waste and climate smart agriculture. We invite our partner stakeholders to collaborate with us in creating the transformative changes that are needed to adapt to the changing needs in the agriculture and food domain. Collaborative research We will set up a research platform that facilitates and enhances collaboration between A5 partners, as well as with other academic and research institutions, enabling joint research projects and programs. Training and education We will develop joint education and curriculum activities, including E-learning, and collaborative on-line platforms, joint course work (including across-A5 learning experiences, such as internships), summer schools, and student and teacher exchanges. In addition, we will enhance the human and institutional capacity of higher education, especially in developing countries. Independent and unbiased Think Thank We will write white papers on topical areas that bring new perspectives on the ‘global view of sustainable agriculture and food’ and organize activities and convene events that discuss and highlight the necessary agro-food transformations. Examples are conferences or “executive” workshops for policy-makers, research institutions, industries, NGOs and academia, with a focus on awareness, engagement, and knowledge sharing and co-creation. Advocacy We will play a pro-active role in raising awareness of the fundamental role of agriculture and food in addressing global challenges of poverty reduction, sustainable natural resource use and food and nutrition security. A5 will strive for university research to be a trusted resource for the general public. General Information A5: Knowledge, Training, and Education for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Many of today’s global challenges have a high priority on international agendas. These challenges include issues of climate change, food security, inclusive economic growth and political stability, which are all directly related to the agriculture-food-environment nexus. Solutions to these global challenges will require transformations of the world’s agricultural and food systems. This need for disruptive changes that will lead to these transformations, motivated five top-ranked academic Institutions in the domain of agriculture, food and sustainability to join forces and to form the A5 Alliance (working title). The A5 founding members - China Agricultural University, Cornell University, University of California Davis, University of Sao Paulo, and Wageningen University & Research - are recognized globally for their scientific knowledge, research expertise, teaching and training in sustainable agriculture and food systems. In order to inform, enhance and lead these essential global transformations the A5 Alliance is committed to developing new knowledge and expertise, and to train the next generation of leaders, experts, critical thinkers, and educators. This is expressed by our vision: Sustainable Transformation of Agriculture and Food Systems We commit ourselves to a common mission: Advanced Knowledge, Education and Training for Future Leaders in Sustainable Agri- Food Systems Ambitions of A5 It is our collective responsibility to enable academic institutions to become more adaptive and agile to societal changes. Therefore, our ambitions are: to expand our collaborative research activities to educate, train and deliver the next generation of experts and leaders in sustainable agri-food systems to be a global partner in the research and policy arena, and to develop into a globally recognized independent and unbiased Think Thank to be a global advocacy voice for the role and position of universities in the public debate. Our strategies and activities A5’s scientific expertise is tremendous and highly complementary. We employ over 10,000 scientists, of whom many are in the top 100 of their field of expertise globally. Many of our scientists are involved in teaching at all academic levels. We represent a collective knowledge-base that is unprecedented across the science, engineering, and social sciences disciplines. Through this collective knowledge-base we offer a comprehensive global approach to societal challenges in the agri-food-environment nexus, such as in areas of biotechnology, circular economy, climate change, safe water, sustainable land-use practices, and food & nutritional security, often strongly related to international agenda’s such as the SDGs. Examples of transformational topics that A5 intends to work on include the management, synthesis and analysis of huge data streams (big data) in the agriculture and food, developing and introducing automation and robotics in agriculture, sustainable intensification of agro-food production, reducing food waste and climate smart agriculture. We invite our partner stakeholders to collaborate with us in creating the transformative changes that are needed to adapt to the changing needs in the agriculture and food domain. Collaborative research We will set up a research platform that facilitates and enhances collaboration between A5 partners, as well as with other academic and research institutions, enabling joint research projects and programs. Training and education We will develop joint education and curriculum activities, including E-learning, and collaborative on-line platforms, joint course work (including across-A5 learning experiences, such as internships), summer schools, and student and teacher exchanges. In addition, we will enhance the human and institutional capacity of higher education, especially in developing countries. Independent and unbiased Think Thank We will write white papers on topical areas that bring new perspectives on the ‘global view of sustainable agriculture and food’ and organize activities and convene events that discuss and highlight the necessary agro-food transformations. Examples are conferences or “executive” workshops for policy-makers, research institutions, industries, NGOs and academia, with a focus on awareness, engagement, and knowledge sharing and co-creation. Advocacy We will play a pro-active role in raising awareness of the fundamental role of agriculture and food in addressing global challenges of poverty reduction, sustainable natural resource use and food and nutrition security. A5 will strive for university research to be a trusted resource for the general public.