Meet Lily Osman, PhD in Food Studies Student…
As Lily Osman (PhD in Food Studies) was growing up on the Upper West Side in New York City, she found her passion for food at a young age.
“The kitchen was really the place that I always felt most confident and safe and creative,” says Osman. “But eventually I kind of moved away from food because I didn’t know that it was realistic to work in that world full-time as an adult.”
After obtaining her undergraduate degree in women, gender, and sexuality studies from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Osman spent several years working on the corporate side of cosmetics manufacturing before realizing this was not the path for her. She ended up coming back to food as her true passion and enrolling in culinary school, where she experienced a defining moment.
“One of my chefs told the class, ‘Knives aren’t made for women,’ and I immediately was like, ‘no, that’s not okay,’” says Osman.
So, she set about developing a patented chef’s knife design with a shorter, interchangeable handle designed for comfort and accessibility that can be more comfortable for everyone from women to those who are left-handed or have issues like arthritis.
Sole Cookware's Cardinal Chef Knife
When thinking about how to market her creation, a friend of Osman’s mom told her about a food entrepreneurship class that she took at NYU Steinhardt. Osman decided she really wanted to participate in that class to work on her business pitch, so she enrolled in Steinhardt’s master’s in Food Studies program before continuing into the PhD program.
Osman’s idea has become the foundation for both her business, Sole Cookware, and her doctoral research, which explores the history of chef’s knives. While learning about Japanese housewife knives—the santoku and nakiri—she discovered real data about what women have historically wanted in a kitchen blade, such as the weight, the dimensions, and the balance. Osman also researched the ulu, an Inuit knife designed by and for women that's been in continuous use for more than 4,000 years.
“Finding out about these knives changed how I think about what Sole Cookware is,” says Osman. “When you trace the chef's knife back through centuries of design decisions, you can see exactly where and from whom the conventions came from—they were the product of institutions that didn't include most of the people who actually cook. With my product, I'm building on a legacy, and it's not a legacy about what women couldn't do. It's a legacy about what they did, and the tools that exist are proof of that—even when the written history is silent.”
Learning Beyond the Classroom
“Throughout my time at Steinhardt, I’ve gotten great support for my business, but what’s surprised me the most is that my journey has taken me in a bunch of directions that I did not anticipate at all,” says Osman.
Lily during her farm apprenticeship, driving a tractor across the field for the first time
One of the most transformative aspects of her experience has been the program’s emphasis on hands-on learning. A course that included a farm tour on the East End of Long Island led her to an unexpected opportunity of apprenticing on one of the farms.
“Being able to understand how to grow something from seed to harvest is incredible,” says Osman. “You’re interacting with the things that keep us alive, and we don’t actually get the chance to do that much these days.”
These immersive experiences have given Osman a comprehensive understanding of food, labor, and sustainability.
“I just feel like I am learning a really holistic approach to food,” she says. “Getting to talk to farmers who guest lecture, studying food labor and access, all of it gives you a sense of how vast food really is and how many things it touches. I want to contribute to the academic conversation, and the way I can best do that is by helping people cook and teaching them about the food system while giving them a product that respects the intelligence and the daily experience of the person holding it.”
Partnerships that Expand Perspectives
At NYU Steinhardt, collaboration across disciplines has been central to Osman’s growth, from taking a course in sustainable business at NYU Stern to engaging with peers from a wide range of academic backgrounds.
Lily sharing her knife techniques with her mom on Mother's Day
“Everybody’s passionate about their own area in this program, but each of those specialties need to work together as part of the same systems,” says Osman. “That makes for really interesting conversations in which you get to advocate for your perspective, making the discussion more dynamic. You’re learning from each other in real time.”
Building Community Through Food
Looking ahead, Lily plans to focus on growing Sole Cookware and expanding its impact, from more advertising and publicity to increase sales, to building a community of cooks who learn how to use their kitchen tools together in ways that feel open and accessible.
For Osman, food is a powerful connector across societies, cultures, and more.
“I feel like the one thing that really connects all humans is food,” says Osman. “The more courses I take, the more I deeply understand the complexity of the food system and how it touches every part of people’s lives. I feel like I just want to keep learning because it will never be enough.”
That breadth of knowledge, and the opportunity to explore it from multiple angles, is what makes Osman’s experience at NYU Steinhardt so transformative.
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