Contributors
Learn more about our contributors below! If you would like to get involved and become a Grounded Grub contributor, contact us at GroundedGrub@gmail.com
Joshua Sadinsky
Joshua Sadinsky was born and raised in Fayetteville, Arkansas. His mother is an immigrant from Taiwan. As a result, Josh grew up eating traditional comfort foods and recipes from his mother's home country. He took his B.A. in music and German Studies at Cornell University, and is currently pursuing an M.F.A. in piano/keyboard at the California Institute of the Arts. He loves picking up fresh produce from the local farmer's market on his bike commute to campus. When it comes to food, Josh is most interested in how the dining table has the sacred power to unite people from all different backgrounds.
Check out Josh’s contributions below!
On Carrot-Eggs: Food as a Connection with Cultural and Ethnic Identity
Archana Choudhary
Archana grew up in the lap of some of the world’s most delicious food in India. Her personal interest in food was only (re)discovered recently, as she has learned to recreate Indian food at home, shift to a sustainable mindset about food consumption and waste, and tries to focus on a plant-based, protein-centric diet. She is constantly amazed by the historic roots of so many food and wellness trends, and wants to democratize access to information in an inexpensive, and sustainable manner. Food, and our relationship to it, doesn’t have to be complicated.
She lives in Brooklyn, works as a management consultant, and struggles to keep her plants alive.
Check out Archana’s contributions below!
Xander Balwit
Xander Balwit is a student of German, Philosophy, and Communication at Portland State University. Raised on rice milk and single-ply toilet paper, Xander’s interest in sustainability is second nature. She has recently become interested in entomophagy and the role that insects play in our food systems. When not studying, Xander boxes, reads, or plays ferocious games of Boggle.
Check out Xander’s contributions below!
Hanna Lilly
Born and raised in the rich ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest, Hanna Lilly grew up with a deep connection to the abundance of the Earth that has inspired countless hours of research, writing, work, and reverence. Having decided against pursuing a degree, Hanna spent her college years learning through doing, finding deep love and excitement for social entrepreneurship, farming and Earth stewardship, youth education, and a myriad of other doings that likely involve soil, sunshine and seeds. Following an arrest at a protest in the fall of 2020, Hanna was exposed firsthand to the workings of the criminal carceral system and was inspired to connect her passion for Earth-grown food with the work of restorative justice. From this, Hanna has been growing Freedom Harvest, a project that gathers, prepares, and distributes farm-grown, produce-based meal-kits to new or expectant mothers on probation or parole in Multnomah County. Freedom Harvest is excited to launch their first season of programming this year, and see all that may grow.
Check out Hanna’s contributions below!
A Seed for Reimagining the World
Alex Schultz
A lifelong environmentalist with an engineering background, Alex is driven by a passion for systems thinking and sustainability at different scales. Alex holds a Chemical Engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and has dabbled in many environmental roles; from clean energy advocacy to water use data display to toxic chemicals research, before landing at her current job as an energy efficiency engineer outside of Boston, MA. Alex is a big believer in small steps towards better habits and considered herself a fairly conscious consumer when a sustainable food systems course took her interest in agricultural systems to a new level. Since that course a few years ago, she has been eagerly learning and piecing together the complexities of our local, domestic, and international food systems. Alex happily spends most of her free time running, thrifting, and chopping vegetables.
Check out Alex’s contributions below!
Tara Hammonds
Tara is an out-going Fellow at TechnoServe Uganda and an in-coming Fellow at Catholic Relief Services Niger, Tara is extremely passionate about the technical and economic development of food systems in sub-Saharan Africa. With a B.S. and M.P.S. in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University, Tara has been fortunate to live, study, and work in Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, and South Africa. This, in addition to providing eye-opening life experiences, has also presented her with some interesting and exciting culinary experiences - roasted goat udder, a fermented sorghum drink called bushera, and cow hoof soup, to name a few. In the kitchen, Tara prefers to go rogue and cook without using recipes. Her favorites? Homemade pasta, chicken curry, and roasted veggie grain bowls!
Check out Tara’s contributions below!
Making the Most of Your Food: Lessons on food waste from Karamoja, Uganda
Paige Wagar
Paige grew up in sunny Ventura, California—an agricultural mecca rich with strawberries, avocados, and citrus. Her childhood was filled with backpacking trips, shoveling mulch at the community garden, and playing with her family's pet chickens (Kung Pao and Bebe). Her lifelong interest in agriculture and the environment was sparked by these early experiences. Since Paige's graduation from Cornell University with a BS in Environmental Science & Sociology in 2018, she has worked professionally on themes of sustainable land management and environmental education with organizations like US Forest Service and The Audubon Society. Paige is now based in the Bay Area, where she works for the National Park Service during the week and spends the weekend tending to her vermicomposting bin and experimenting with new vegan recipes.
Check out Paige’s contributions below!
Colleen Alexander
Colleen is deeply passionate about the food system and the connection it creates between people as well as between people and the planet. She believes that what we eat every day affects our political, economic, environmental, and social-cultural systems. Colleen received her Master’s degree in Sustainable Food Systems from New York University, and now works to create resilient communities by improving access to fresh, healthy, tasty, and culturally appropriate food. Currently, she works to increase literacy and knowledge on the benefits of a plant-based diet for a non-profit organization.
Check out Colleen’s contributions below!
"Are you Allowed to Eat That?”- Sustainable Eating as a Personalized Experience
Meat Without the Animal? The Growing Field of Cellular Agriculture
Osamu Tsuda
Osamu is a community and sustainability planner located in Upstate New York and is a graduate from Cornell University's city planning program.
While originally from Cooperstown NY, Osamu grew up on a rice farm with his family in Kumamoto Japan (home to Kumamoto Oysters). The 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster as well as the 2016 7.5 magnitude earthquake that struck his Japanese hometown in 2016 were two significant events that motivated him to study the intersecting topics of land use and sustainable systems. He has been involved in and worked with various organizations such as Sustainable Finger Lakes and the New York Water Resources Institute, focusing on watershed management-related issues. In his future graduate studies, Osamu looks to study the various innovative climate smart and sustainable technologies and methods that are used in Japan.
During his free time, Osamu enjoys building things, playing his viola and mandolin, hiking, and of course cooking and experimenting in the kitchen!
Check out Osamu’s contributions below!
How the Rice Industry is Contributing to Sustainable Agriculture
Christian Kanlian
Growing up cooking holiday meals, Christian has always felt deeply about the power of food to bring people together. Through work in classrooms, on farms, and in his career, he has worked towards addressing our food system’s failings from an integrated perspective, acknowledging the political, scientific and economic realities that created today’s challenges. After receiving his B.S. from the School of Integrative Plant Sciences at Cornell University, he managed the produce supply chain for Headwater Food Hub in Upstate NY. He now works for Agritecture, helping cities and entrepreneurs plan and implement more sustainable, equitable and resilient food systems at varying scales. He is passionate about solutions that support responsible farmers, and engage consumers of all income levels.
Check out Christian’s contributions below!
Max Aronson
Max has been passionate about food and hospitality since he was a child, learning from his mother as they entertained family and friends for holiday dinners. After years of cooking at home, he went to high school at the Bergen County Academies for Culinary Arts and Hospitality Administration. Max went on to study hospitality at Cornell University in the School of Hotel Administration with a concentration in Beverage Management. He has worked in the kitchens and dining rooms of multiple Michelin-starred restaurants as well as on screen when he competed and won on a teen edition of Chopped on the Food Network. Max currently works in the Dining Room of Eleven Madison Park in New York City, and is working towards opening his own restaurants.
Check out Max’s contributions below!
Laura Daniel
Raised in Vermont, Laura is a biomedical engineer turned nutrition coach. She loves learning about food, nutrition, and human behavior. She’s particularly interested in how individual food and lifestyle choices impact our own health, as well as the overarching food system. As a nutrition coach, she supports clients in building healthy habits by focusing on the process, instead of perfection. She believes the same ideas can be applied to living a more intentional and sustainable lifestyle. Laura is currently pursuing a certification in integrative health coaching and lives in Washington, DC. When she’s not working you can find her baking a loaf of sourdough bread, hiking, or seeking out a local brewery.
Check out Laura’s contributions below!
Nic Pavao
Nic is a PhD candidate at Northwestern University pursuing research in theoretical physics. He believes in cross-disciplinary collaboration when addressing problems of existential importance - particularly sustainability and global development. A native of Philadelphia, he spends his days drinking coffee, climbing walls, playing cello, and developing consistent theories of quantum gravity.
Check out Nic’s contributions below!
Daniella Zandi
Daniella is most fulfilled by finding ways to create the foods and drinks she likes by herself, from the source. She enjoys experimenting with funky ingredients and in college began inoculating shiitake logs and infusing liquors. Daniella regards meal time as an opportunity to fuel her body for biking, running, and yoga excursions, and never under underestimates the pure joy of indulging in a full fresh clean meal. With a degree in Applied Sustainability Sciences and minors in Economics and Climate Change, Daniella began working as a Sustainability Specialist at a global design and architecture firm. She is fascinated by ways in which companies can close resource loops, especially when regarding food and reducing or repurposing waste. Catch her laying in a park in NYC or gardening in her backyard on Long Island!
Check out Daniella’s contributions below!
Nicole Lee
As a born-and-raised city kid, Nicole's first time on a dairy farm during a class field trip at Cornell University sparked her passion for food systems change. Since then, she has graduated with a B.A. in Sociology with minors in Business and Community Food Systems. In the last three years, Nicole has led and contributed to various food organizations on- and off-campus, including Farmers’ Market at Cornell, Anabel’s Grocery, Green Monday, the Good Food Institute, and Food Angel Hong Kong—all in an attempt to learn and immerse herself in different spaces with the food landscape. Currently, Nicole is working as a research assistant for a project on food hubs, as well as co-organizing the inaugural Cornell Future Food Summit, striving to transform the way we eat and think about food.
Check out Nicole’s contributions below!
Rania Hassan
Rania has always had a passion for the environment, specifically food sustainability and plastic waste. Her Muslim upbringing was one of the biggest influences on her interest in environmental issues. Growing up, her mom would always tell her that wasting food is haram (prohibited), especially with so many people suffering from hunger. This started Rania's passion in food waste and food sustainability. Her parents are immigrants from Egypt and she grew up listening to her mother's stories about growing up in the countryside and all the produce they grew. She graduated from North Carolina State University with a B.S. in environmental science with a concentration in environmental policy. She currently works for NC State as a lab manager/outreach assistant in the horticulture department while living in Durham, NC. Rania has previously worked as an Environmental Science Summer Camp counselor at Duke University and interned at a non-profit, Don't Waste Durham, aimed at reducing plastic waste. She believes that environmental issues are one of the most important issues we face today as well as uniquely universal. She also believes in the power of the individual, every step, even if small, is a step in the right direction. She hopes to work in environmental justice in the future. In her free time she loves watching Disney movies, baking, cooking, painting, and traveling.
Check out Rania’s contributions below!
Anna Birn
Anna grew up in the rolling fields and traditional farmland of the Hudson Valley. She first became interested in farming as a lifestyle, in her early years spent wrangling sheep, riding horses and baling hay. After arriving at Cornell, Anna studied the way food flows from field to kitchen, and how people interact with it along the way. While the agricultural program was quite broad, Anna's academic interests focused on the plight of the small farmer, and inequality within the food system.
Following her graduation in 2019, Anna provided programmatic support for the Cornell Small Farms Program. Her work included assisting in the indoor specialty mushroom production lab, and curriculum support for veterans interested in agriculture. From there, Anna moved north to join the team at Headwater Food Hub where she manages the direct-to-consumer branch of the company.
When she isn't driving trucks full of NYS produce or running food distributions, Anna can be found hiking or swimming in the finger lakes.
Check out Anna’s contributions below!
Food Hubs
Emma Volk
Emma is a horticultural research technician living in Durham, North Carolina. Before moving south, she graduated with a BS in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University. In the past few years, she has worked as a farmhand in North Carolina, a manager at Cornell’s student-run farm, a fellow at the Wildlife Conservation Society, and a plant disease researcher in Cap Haitian, Haiti. She hopes that through her work she can improve people’s access to food and food knowledge. Since she doesn’t have access to a home garden right now, she spends a lot of her time surfing, running, or hanging out with her betta fish, John John.
Check out Emma’s contributions below!
Harry Tibbetts
After growing up in small town New Hampshire, Harry has spent a significant time abroad expanding on both palette and hiking experiences in Europe and East Asia. He graduated with a BSc in Environmental Earth Science from the University of St Andrews in Scotland; he not only spent his time in Uni spilling over maps of various geological phenomena across the Scottish coast and beyond, but also in cultivating an appreciation for all things fermented. From borscht to hot sauce, apple cider to kombucha, kimchi to sourdough bread, his kitchen has evolved into a lively habitat for a multitude of cultures occupying a litany of jars and bottles with doors wide open for more to find their way in. His academic interest centers around new waste management technologies aimed at working towards more circular agricultural systems. In the future he hopes to work on this transition and practice domestic permaculture.
Check out Harry’s contributions below!
Caroline Motzer
Caroline loves anything and everything to do with food but takes special interest in how it can be grown and distributed sustainably. She holds two BS Degrees in International Agriculture & Rural Development and Agriculture Sciences from Cornell University. Since then, she has worked as an agriculture researcher and a hydroponic microgreen grower. Her favorite food related memories are selling lemonade and ice cream at the Ithaca Farmers Market and traveling to India to learn about the power of food and its role in ayurvedic medicine. She currently lives in Seattle, Washington where she spends her time hiking, baking and encouraging others to eat local and get outside through her hobby Instagram, @thenaturebaked.
Check out Caroline’s contributions below!
Lily Mazzocco
Lily grew up surrounded by rich culinary traditions, courtesy of her Italian-American family and her mother's passion for baking. As a Psychology and Finance student at UCLA, Lily is particularly interested in individualized approaches to sustainable eating. She is currently working with Grounded Grub by tracking finances and serving as a general source of accounting knowledge. A Bay Area native, Lily enjoys thrifting, painting, and practicing yoga.
Check out Lily’s contributions below!
Chewy Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
Maddy Kinnear
Raised on her family’s livestock farm in Western New York, Madeline learned from a young age to treat all animals with respect and to be a responsible steward of the land. It was from working outside on the farm every day that Madeline began to develop an interest in nature. While perusing her B.S. in Environmental and Sustainability Science at Cornell University, she took classes that broadened her knowledge of both natural systems and different industries of agriculture. She has since worked in a multitude of agriculture industries including field crops, livestock, dairy, and viticulture. Currently, Madeline is working on a sustainable farm in Oregon managing water resources. Her goal in life is to help bridge the communication and information gap between farmers and consumers while promoting sustainable AG practices.
Check out Maddy’s contributions below!