Felicia Paradiso, Apprentice 2022

Few things can communicate love in the same way as a meal. What else so effectively says to the recipient: I care about your nourishment, I value your growth, I donate my time and my skills to you? At the CSG, I practice tracing this message from the table back to the farm. As I sow and water and weed and thin and harvest, I imbue my honest care into the crops and the land. Hot afternoons in July asked me if I would wilt with the plants or give my sweat for their cultivation, and now, on windy mornings, the sting of cold dew passing from green vegetables to my red fingertips invites me to renew my commitment to growing.

I am serving as an apprentice at the CSG in between bouts of formal schooling. I graduated from Rutgers in May, and next August I will begin at Berkeley Law, where I will continue to offer my head and my hands in pursuit of sustainable agriculture and equitable food distribution. I am eager to continue my academic journey in this area, and I am very grateful to be at the CSG in the meantime. My tenure here might not be called restful, but it is certainly refreshing. The attitude of care and abundance that is foundational at the CSG makes a better future feel more real. What an honor to spend time with so many people who value food as I do and who use it to communicate their love! Thank you for allowing me to feed you!