Meet Cristina Sandolo

Director of Community Integration

As Director of Community Integration at Wholesome Wave, Cristina Sandolo plays a key role in developing, expanding and strengthening our Nourishing Neighborhoods programs through working with the Wholesome Wave programs team and program partners nationally. Cristina works collaboratively with the Director of Programs to ensure strategic program decisions translate appropriately into-on-the ground activities. Having been raised in a traditional Italian-American family and then studying natural resource sciences, Cristina’s connection to food and the environment is strong. That, coupled with implementing environmental education programs in New York City, formed a commitment to work towards initiatives that reintroduce American communities to the critical components of a healthy food system: sustainability, environmental responsibility, equitable access, cultural influence and community participation.   Contact: cristina@wholesomewave.org

Q: What food smell brings you instantly back to childhood?
A: Meatballs cooking in a simmering home-made tomato sauce. All day.

Q: What is your first food memory?
A: Biting into a steaming hot piece of cheese pizza at John's Best and burning the roof of my mouth, but still knowing it was the best pizza ever.

Q: If I came to your house for supper tonight, what would you make me?
A: Pasta with a spicy vodka sauce, or maybe meatballs and escarole with cannellini beans. Or a nice roasted farmers market chicken and broccoli rabe with cecci.

Q: What is your perfect idea of happiness?
A: Abundant audial stimulus in the form of language that isn't my own and I like my feet to be anywhere that doesn't have any sort of time constraint associated with it. Or just hanging out with my fam.

Q: What is your greatest fear?
A: That Melissa will stop baking!

Q: What historical figure do you most identify with?
A: Not sure, so I decided to work on making a new one, per Maggie's suggestion.

Q: Who are your heroes in real life?
A: My Zia Ada: she cooks like an Italian rock-star and seems to unintentionally live in a way that has low-impact on the planet and high impact on humans. Others include Dina Brewster and Annie Farrell for farming in and near my hometown, and everyone I've met in Bridgeport who's working on seeding some green so that this city has something on which to thrive.

Q: What do you consider your greatest achievement?
A: A big mixed bag of most things I did before 30 including getting the Italian-ness at the core of my DNA to finally express itself verbally.

Q: What is your most treasured possession?
A: My vision of the Bridgeport Farm Stand as a catalyst for community connectivity.

Q: What is your motto?
A: As my best friend has always said: "Drink some water, you'll be fine."