Meet Norma Gonzalez, Farm Share Manager

Who is the face behind Farm Share? Meet Norma Gonzalez.

Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do. 

I’m Norma, your friendly neighborhood Texan transplant. I was born in Texas but raised in the Bronx. Just kidding! While I am Spanish-speaking, I identify more with the term Latina rather than Hispanic because it feels like a small way to honor my Latin American and indigenous roots, decolonize my identity, and bring my ancestors into my life. If I were to describe myself, I would say that I am Latina, a learner, and community advocate.

When I came to NYC, I lived in Washington Heights, a very different Latinx community from where I grew up. In Texas, I grew up in a community that was 90% Mexican-American and Mexican immigrant – So coming to a mostly Dominican and Puerto Rican community was very different culturally, but still felt very similar to home because of the importance and emphasis on gathering around food and community. During the pandemic, I moved to the Bronx where I manage a farm share site. 

As the Farm Share Manager I manage the various farm share sites in the Bronx and Manhattan as well as a small team of Site Coordinators. My position is unique because I try to operate in a very grassroots way, atypical of program Managers. My impact in my role is to bring transparency to Shareholders since I am both forward facing at some sites and community member, but I also work behind the scenes on our programming and projects. 

How did you end up at Corbin Hill Food Project?

I grew up in a community where family is the top priority. You have homework to do or you want to read a book? You can do it after you listen to your mom, do your chores, volunteer at the church, and help your neighbor bring in the trash. No matter what you needed to do, helping your family and community always came first. Growing up in that environment, I always felt this pull to do community based work.

Whenever I interact with a Shareholder, especially when I meet a Spanish-speaking young mom, child, or elderly person, I think of my roots. My mom is a monolingual Spanish speaker. I am also the only Spanish speaker at CHFP so I can help to translate our concepts and produce to any Spanish speaker interested in our program. In that framework, I always feel like I have my home with me –  that I’m continuing to prioritize my community which is represented in the Shareholders.

One of the Food as Medicine project’s goals isn’t just to provide produce prescriptions, but to redefine health from a community perspective. How do you define health and healthy eating?

For me, health is holistic and multidimensional. It involves everything that around us that makes up the human experience, whether it’s social, emotional, physical, cultural, or political realms. All these different aspects impact how our bodies feel and can manifest in our overall health and well-being. That means policies, what you buy at the grocery store, the clothes you wear, what you eat, how you vote along with how much you work out and your mental health space interacts to impact your experience and health. 

When I think about health in that way I want to be careful about how I interact with the world around me. My body is going to be with me forever. It’s the only one I’ll have so with so many potential impacts,  I have to be really careful about how I spend my time, who I surround myself with, and of course what food I put in my body. 

To me, centering my culture is healthy eating. I grew up with a heavily colonized diet – heavy with processed foods and fast foods. Knowing what I know now, I believe that my body is more special and it deserves going back to my roots and indigenous background. This means eating more produce, seasonal fruits, and being conscious about where I purchase foods and how I make my meals. 

While being able to purchase fresh, local produce is a privilege and I try to do it as much as I can, I also consider shopping within my means and its impact on my community. For example, I may choose to purchase from a local bodega or vendor selling tacos, fresh cut fruit, or Mexican sweet bread because my purchase directly impacts my community members – it puts money in their pocket to be able to feed their family. To me, that’s a conscious and healthy choice, too. 

What are some of your favorite things you do to stay healthy? 

As mentioned, based on my holistic view of health, I try to be very mindful about how I spend my time and who I surround myself with. I also like to work out – my favorite is a fighting-style workout which gives me a very strong body. Food wise-  I’m always working to decolonize my diet which means returning to less processed foods and more plant foods, like cactus. I recommend Decolonize Your Diet: Plant-Based Mexican-American Recipes for Health and Healing. Also, just as importantly, I never miss dessert! 

Favorite family recipe? 

My version of my mom’s Frijoles Charros but with lentils, so technically, Lentejas Charros! Get the recipe.