In 2020, we collaborated on Garden Conversations, a spontaneous, virtual panel event in response to the global Covid-19 pandemic. Tony Damico used his exceptional communication skills to help moderate the event, and we, along with guest panelists, set out to have a collaborative discussion about healthy food: access to it all, growing our own, and cultivating goodness from within. He also shared a helpful resource list to help households and neighborhoods get started with growing and connecting with others. What resulted as a short-term project stemmed from Tony’s longtime involvement in grassroots organizing, community events and his journey as a social change agent, “shifter”, and impactful leader.

Three years later, he is still having that conversation and has been since 2015, on his own platforms as a food council leader and co-founder of Long Beach Fresh alongside Ryan Smolar.

As a team, Long Beach Fresh is a champion of local food sustainability and food equity for all. They have an incredible purpose and fundraising campaign to preserve their efforts and invites us all to be a part of it.

Learn more about supporting urban agriculture, their interactive food map, home garden toolkit, monthly crop swap, their new volunteer hub, and more here.

More about Tony Damico:

Tony Damico is an agent of social and cultural transformation who believes that networks rooted in respect and shared values are key to making everyone healthier and happier. He works as a seasoned organizational leader, and as an educator.

After moving to Long Beach to gain an MA in Communication Studies, his study of rhetoric and love of hip-hop culture led him to learn about the plight of South Central Farm, as local artists catalyzed a movement to restore land justice to the region. Soon after graduating, he hosted hundreds of consciousness-raising events through Shift Long Beach. He then co-founded and directed The Long Beach Time Exchange. This network saw hundreds of residents share 20,000 hours of their skills and services over 10 years.

His work at Long Beach Fresh, which started in 2014, has focused on eradicating food deserts in Long Beach. Through collaborative support, program design and policy change, his efforts have increased land access for community food production, boosted micro-enterprise food businesses, and platformed a new wave of grassroots leaders and food educators in Long Beach.

Tony boasts a well-honed collaborative skill set, developed through twelve years of experience in leading community-based organizations. He enjoys facilitating group efforts, supporting emerging leaders with communication coaching, producing multimedia and graphic elements, and designing interactive programs rooted in empathy and co-powerment.

Tony teaches at Long Beach City College in the Communication Studies Department and holds a Master’s Degree in Communication Studies from CSU Long Beach and a BA in Organizational Communication from Western Kentucky University. He also serves on the board of directors of the city’s largest community garden network, Long Beach Organic. Both as a hobby and a critical means of self-expression, Tony curates music via Incidental Beats, and produces electronic music under the moniker, Onymico.

Bio courtesy of Tony Damico