Meet Ashia Aubourg '18, a Food Justice Advocate Who Empowers Communities, on the ‘’Cuse Conversations’ Podcast

Ever since Ashia Aubourg ’18 was a child, she dreamed of one day working as a chef. Food was always the epicenter of her life, and from an early age, Aubourg would help her family in the kitchen, even whipping up side dishes for Thanksgiving.

Aubourg admits she had career tunnel vision and was focused on becoming a chef…but as she readily admits now, life never goes according to plan. So it was during an internship in high school that Aubourg first realized just how big of a problem food justice was in this country, and that she wanted to dedicate her career to addressing these inequalities.

“It was really cool that I was working in this restaurant, but no one in my family can afford to ever come and eat here. None of my friends and none of the members of the community, even though it was nestled within our community, could afford to come and enjoy these delicious foods that we offered. That just got me thinking about what food inequality and food justice looks like. Here I had this super tunnel vision of going down this culinary path of wanting to become a chef, but the culinary curriculum was very much focused on the technique and history of food, but we never dug deep into the societal impact that food has on us,” Aubourg says.

Following a spontaneous and inspirational conversation with an admissions counselor from Syracuse University, Aubourg decided to become one of the first students enrolled in a new academic offering from Falk College, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School: food studies and policy studies.

After earning dual bachelor’s degrees in food studies and policy studies in 2018, Aubourg launched her career as a food justice advocate, entrepreneur, journalist, podcaster and creator of healthy recipes. Today, she serves as the global culinary program lead for the San Francisco, California-based company, Asana, empowering communities through the power of food.

Aubourg discusses food justice and food insecurity and how these issues affect millions of Americans; how food plays an important role when it comes to social justice, healing and culture; why food is about more than nourishment; and how her time at Syracuse University helped fuel her passions while encouraging her to take advantage of every opportunity.

Note: This conversation was edited for brevity and clarity.

Check out episode 117 of the “’Cuse Conversations” podcast featuring Ashia Aubourg ’18. A transcript [PDF] is also available.