Sam Bliss studies the production and distribution of food that's not for sale. He also participates in these non-market food practices: shepherding, spearfishing, growing vegetables, and sharing food as a gift with anyone who is hungry for any reason as an organizer of Food Not Bombs Burlington. In 2023, he completed a Ph.D. at the University of Vermont on this topic, titled Non-market food practices do things markets cannot: Why Vermonters produce and distribute food that's not for sale. In his current postdoctoral fellowship, he works with Dr. Meredith Niles and a team of food access researchers to explore if, how, and when "home and wild food procurement" — gardening, hunting, fishing, foraging, and raising animals non-commercially — contribute to food security in high-income societies like the northeastern U.S.
Sam also teaches introductory economics and ecological economics at UVM. He has been active for more than a decade as an author, speaker, and organizer in the international scholar-activist movement for degrowth, which means transforming wealthy societies to downscale their overconsuming economies while meeting everybody's material needs. In addition, Sam enjoys traveling by bicycle, making bouquets in beer cans, and composing folk-punk songs that he sings very loudly.
