Introduction: Ally Pecego
Ally Pecego (she/her) grew up in Long Beach, CA, one of the most polluted cities in the United States, a byproduct of our fossil fuel-reliant society. Concerned about humans’ impacts on the world, she earned her B.A. in Environmental Studies and Legal Studies at UC Santa Cruz among the redwoods and sandy Pacific beaches. Determined to engage in transformational climate action, she became a California Climate Action Corps Fellow where she led a food recovery program in Watsonville, CA, collecting businesses’ excess food and donating it to local food pantries to reduce waste and feed hungry mouths. Struck by our overly complex, industrialized global food system, Ally realized that food is the cornerstone of civilization, yet most people have no idea where their meals come from. To untangle these destructive norms fueling the climate crisis, she completed her M.A. in Climate and Society at Columbia University to find equitable solutions to systemic problems destroying the Earth and its residents.
Ally is honored to be a Groundwork Fellow and welcomes the challenge to live off the land and empower herself and others to step outside of their comfort zone to embrace the change needed to guide our society into a healthy and resilient place with not just people, but all life in mind. She hopes to bring food growing into more people’s lives and dreams of a world with local food production at the heart of every city.
Ally loves to read, sing, hike, practice yoga, and run among the trees.