Meet Our Team: Natali Arellano
December 11, 2025
Meet one of the newest members of our team, Natali Arellano, who joined us in October 2025 as an Education Coordinator, supporting our Foodwise Kids and Foodwise Teens programs through the Sustainable Service Corps fellowship, a program of AmeriCorps.
Tell us a bit about you, your background, and what brought you to Foodwise?
I have a background in environmental science, community outreach, and youth education. Before joining Foodwise, I worked at the community garden on my college campus, where I helped host weekly workshops and tended to the garden. Afterwards, I interned in community outreach for the Presidio, and I led youth groups around the park site. I moved to San Francisco in 2022, and I grew up near Sacramento. I always wanted to live in a big city, coming from a small rural town, and I haven’t looked back since. I joined Foodwise recently after graduating college. I was interested in working for the Sustainable Service Corps because I wanted to dedicate a year of service to an organization doing work in the sustainable/environmental sector, being able to do work that I could be proud of, and in something I believed in. That is how I found this position at Foodwise and I am so happy I can work in an industry that I love.
What does your work at Foodwise look like in action?
I help support the Foodwise Kids and Foodwise Teens programs, so on days when we have programs, I am running around leading kids groups at the farmers market, or I am at the high schools assisting with the teens in the garden or in the kitchen. Our kids program consists of shopping for produce at the farmers market, sometimes with a tour of the Ferry Building, and then having the kids taste the different fruits and vegetables we just bought – they almost always get to try something new! The teens program is a ten-week work experience program where teens get to learn valuable life skills like public speaking, cooking, and gardening. On days without programs, I am doing behind-the-scenes work consisting of assisting with teacher scheduling, emailing, and coordinating with volunteers.
What inspires or motivates you about your work?
The youth that I work with motivate me, they always have so much energy and passion. I work with elementary and high school students, and both age groups inspire me and give me hope for the future. I look forward to coming into work to make their day better and to hopefully leave them with some knowledge that they didn’t previously have about sustainability or the environment.
What’s something that you wish people understood better about Foodwise’s work or your work at Foodwise?
I wish people understood that our work here at Foodwise is more than the simple acts of cooking and gardening with youth. My goal when I am interacting with students is to introduce them to concepts they might not have known or thought about before, and to connect them with local resources here at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and other markets across the city. I really strive to forge bonds with the youth and inspire them to live healthy, sustainable lives outside of our programs and in their future.
What do you do to recharge outside of work?
Outside of work, you can find me at the rock climbing gym or exploring hiking trails around the Bay. Keeping my body active and in nature helps ground me when I am feeling tired or drained. Seeing my friends and family and doing fun activities with them also helps recharge my batteries and gives me something to look forward to throughout the week.
Do you have any favorite farmers market tips you can share?
My tip is to go to the farmers market often if you can. Seasons change before you know it, and you never know what you’ll find every time you go to the market. There are always people to see and talk to, and vegetables you might have never seen before.
What does “food wisdom” mean to you?
Food wisdom to me means that we possess ancestral knowledge of food, and we see it when we make recipes that have been passed down, tweaked, and shared for generations. Intuitively, this can present itself simply by “seasoning with your heart,” seasoning food that you cooked yourself with your own judgement, with your taste shaped and influenced by all the people before you who served your meals growing up, and the people before them who did the same.
Anything else you want to share?
I just want to say that I am so grateful to be a part of the Foodwise team, for all our vendors, and for everyone who helps support our mission. And I would like to express gratitude to the people who support the farmers market by shopping here. Without all of you, there would not be a market, and I would not be able to do what I do. Thank you!
Topics: Meet Our Team