Cristal Franco

Cristal Franco was born and raised in rural Southern California and began learning how to farm and wild harvest in the Mojave Desert from her parents. She has done many things over the years, such as teaching English abroad in Asia, content development for nonprofits, and sustainability research for city government. However, she always returns to food work and has participated in multiple capacities within the food system - farmer, seed banking, cook, educator, researcher - both on and off-reservations. In 2016, she was nominated and selected as an Indigenous delegate to the Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto International Food and Gastronomy Exhibition for her work in American Indian foodways revitalization.

Currently, she resides in Ajo and is the Ajo Business Support Center manager for the International Sonoran Desert Alliance.  She assists with multicultural business support in the borderlands region.