A native of Buffalo, New York, Paradis attended college at the University of Houston, where she received her Bachelors of Arts in psychology. She then went to law school at the University of Texas.

 

After passing the Texas Bar, Paradis began her career in 1979 as a staff attorney in the USDA’s Office of General Counsel’s Food and Nutrition Division, where she specialized in the Food Stamp Program.

 

Four years later she was promoted to senior attorney in the Legislative Division of the Office of the General Counsel.

 

In 1989, Paradis moved to Capitol Hill to become staff director of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Domestic Marketing, Consumer Relations, and Nutrition. She rose to assistant majority counsel for the House Agriculture Committee by 1991, providing legal support for the reauthorization of the National School Lunch Act and the Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief Act.

 

In 1995, Paradis became deputy counsel of the minority staff of the House Agriculture Committee, overseeing legislation on such matters as nutrition and domestic feeding programs.

 

She then returned to the USDA in 1997, becoming Deputy Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. She was responsible for policy and program development for the 15 federal nutrition assistance programs, including Food Stamps, school meals, and commodity donations.

 

With the arrival of the Bush administration in January 2001, Paradis left the USDA to become Senior Washington Counsel for America’s Second Harvest (currently known as Feeding America), the nation’s largest organization of emergency food providers, comprised of 215 regional food banks and food recovery organizations serving 50,000 local food pantries and soup kitchens. She retired in October 2006.

 

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Names Julie Paradis To Serve as Administrator for Food and Nutrition Service  (U.S. Department of Agriculture)