Teams

Dr. Sarah Long is president of Slow Food Tri-Cities and operates Spade & Spoon, a culinary garden and members-only supper club in Johnson City, Tennessee, where she hosts intimate farm-to-table 5-course dinners. A Professor of Writing at Appalachian State University, Sarah is also a therapeutic writing consultant and author of the forthcoming eco-memoir Uprooted: A Memoir of Belonging and Becoming (Regal House Press July 28, 2026). Her professional and community service bridges food justice, narrative medicine, and sustainable agricultural advocacy, cultivating community through food, storytelling, and connection to the land.

Ashley Cavender, Equitable Nutrition & Food Access Director A native to East Tennessee and an ETSU Alumni, Ashley Cavender is elated to be in this role and to work on meaningful initiatives that focus on local food and dignified access. She is inspired by grassroots agriculture movements, educational programming, and sustainable conservation efforts. Ashley garners support and community connections to leverage access to healthy local foods in low-income communities. With over a decade of non-profit management, event organizing, fundraising, and volunteer management, Ashley is passionate about engaging and educating people from diverse backgrounds to grow and consume local healthy foods. Prior to this position, Cavender was employed by Visit Johnson City as their Event Coordinator and was Director of Meet the Mountains Festival. Before that she served as the Volunteer and Development Coordinator for One Acre Cafe, a community cafe. Her passion for food systems blossomed while attending ETSU where she fell in love with the local agriculture community and ETSU Farmers Market. From there, she found her home in Jonesborough and served as the market manager for Jonesborough Locally Grown for a number of years. When she is not working or volunteering, you will find her on the Nolichucky River with her Jack Russel, Banjo. She enjoys gardening, cooking, and trying new things. She loves being outdoors and traveling abroad any chance she gets. But Appalachia is her home through and through. Connect: 423-427-0547 / ashley@arcd.org

Ashley Cavender, Equitable Nutrition & Food Access Director A native to East Tennessee and an ETSU Alumni, Ashley Cavender is elated to be in this role and to work on meaningful initiatives that focus on local food and dignified access. She is inspired by grassroots agriculture movements, educational programming, and sustainable conservation efforts. Ashley garners support and community connections to leverage access to healthy local foods in low-income communities. With over a decade of non-profit management, event organizing, fundraising, and volunteer management, Ashley is passionate about engaging and educating people from diverse backgrounds to grow and consume local healthy foods. Prior to this position, Cavender was employed by Visit Johnson City as their Event Coordinator and was Director of Meet the Mountains Festival. Before that she served as the Volunteer and Development Coordinator for One Acre Cafe, a community cafe. Her passion for food systems blossomed while attending ETSU where she fell in love with the local agriculture community and ETSU Farmers Market. From there, she found her home in Jonesborough and served as the market manager for Jonesborough Locally Grown for a number of years. When she is not working or volunteering, you will find her on the Nolichucky River with her Jack Russel, Banjo. She enjoys gardening, cooking, and trying new things. She loves being outdoors and traveling abroad any chance she gets. But Appalachia is her home through and through. Connect: 423-427-0547 / ashley@arcd.org

Rachel Kinard discovered her interest in regenerative food systems while volunteering on a farm in her early twenties. Since then, she has spent over a decade farming vegetables, running her own farm in Western North Carolina, and working with farms along the East Coast and in Minnesota.

When Rachel took her skills into the non-profit profession, she managed farmers' markets, organized food access programs, and coordinated farmer services programs. Most recently, she worked with farmers in Appalachia to help them implement conservation practices. Rachel earned a Master’s degree in Sustainable Food Systems from Prescott College and serves on the board of Dig In Yancey, a food access nonprofit in Burnsville, NC.

Rachel Kinard discovered her interest in regenerative food systems while volunteering on a farm in her early twenties. Since then, she has spent over a decade farming vegetables, running her own farm in Western North Carolina, and working with farms along the East Coast and in Minnesota.

When Rachel took her skills into the non-profit profession, she managed farmers' markets, organized food access programs, and coordinated farmer services programs. Most recently, she worked with farmers in Appalachia to help them implement conservation practices. Rachel earned a Master’s degree in Sustainable Food Systems from Prescott College and serves on the board of Dig In Yancey, a food access nonprofit in Burnsville, NC.