It’s All Good C AUGH T D OI NG G O OD
An emotional connection to the land ASHLEY RIVERA HARVESTS A DESIRE TO FEED THE WORLD, ONE NEIGHBORHOOD AT A TIME.
Ashley Rivera is a senior at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
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t’s all about good food for 23-year-old Ashley Rivera. As a child visiting her family’s home in the Caribbean, Rivera would wake early for walks with her father, picking mangoes from trees along the road to eat and enjoy, the sweet juices dribbling down her chin. She’d gather coconuts and lemons and inhale deeply the smells of family gardens filled with okra, tomatoes, herbs and cucumbers. “My grandmother grew potatoes. Other families grew other things and we shared,” recalls the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) senior. Those morning walks foraging and gathering food set Rivera on a path toward her life’s mission: To help empower all communities to build their own food systems. She’s impressed with the sustainability efforts she’s discovered here in Central
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New York: the Onondaga Earth Corps for which she plants trees and advocates; the Alliance for a Green Economy for which she does education outreach; the Syracuse-Onondaga Food Systems Alliance; and the Brady Farm — an urban farm on Syracuse’s southwest side — in which Rivera has found a spiritual connection. “The farm is such a healing place,” says Rivera. “You’re in the ground, picking tomatoes, harvesting potatoes. Feeding the neighborhood. It’s empowering.” Brady Farm Coordinator Jessi Lyons admires Rivera’s passion and perseverance. It can take Rivera hours to get the farm to volunteer on Saturdays via limited bus routes and numerous connections. “It’s a treat to have her on the farm,” says Lyons. “Ashley gets the soul and the spirit of the
PHOTOS BY SUSAN KENNEDY
BY SUSAN KENNEDY
