Cultivating Justice: Dr. Ashley B. Gripper’s Fight for Food Sovereignty and Health Equity

Dr. Ashley B. Gripper standing smiling in a field of sunflowers. IMAGE: OWEN TAYLOR / TRUE LOVE SEEDS
IMAGE: OWEN TAYLOR / TRUE LOVE SEEDS

Dr. Ashley B. Gripper is amplifying the urban agriculture movement in Philadelphia, a city partially shaped by industrial expansion and systemic inequality. As a Health Policy Research Scholars alum (Cohort 2018) and Assistant Professor at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health, her work combines environmental justice, food sovereignty, and activism. Gripper’s journey is rooted in her lived experience and connection to the people in her community. “I give so much thanks and honor to the Creator, to my ancestors, Mama Earth, and my people. Who I am and what I’ve done is because of them.”

From Roots to Revolution

Gripper completed a Bachelor’s in Sociology at Arcadia University, followed by a Master’s in Public Health at Columbia University, and a PhD in Population Health Sciences from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Yet, her most formative learning happened beyond the classroom—through her hands in the soil, her heart in her community, and her activism on the front lines of food justice.

Dr. Ashley B. Gripper Gardening with Community in Philadelphia.

IMAGE: WREN RENE

“As a community-rooted health scientist, my research is dedicated to uplifting community-driven solutions to health inequities,” Gripper shared. “And my academic work meets at the intersections of environmental health, racial justice, and community organizing.”

Gripper, a researcher and trained farmer, centers her research on land-based and agricultural communities. “I am first and foremost accountable to my community of urban farmers and gardeners,” she explains. This commitment has led to work that bridges western academic research with her community’s traditional knowledge systems and wisdom.

Sunflower Picture from Garden

IMAGE: WREN RENE

Gripper’s research focuses on intersections between urban agriculture, racial justice, and public health. She led a spatial analysis that mapped community gardens against demographic and food access data in Philadelphia.  Her findings confirmed what Black and immigrant communities have voiced for decades – gardens are not just survival spaces but centers of resistance. “Food apartheid highlights that this is intentional, structural, and not merely a naturally occurring phenomenon,” Gripper explains, pushing back against the more commonly used term “food desert.” “There were choices made to limit people’s access to food.”

Growing Solutions

IMAGE: NAOMIEH JOVIN

In 2023, Gripper and her colleagues designed Philadelphia’s first Urban Agriculture Plan, “Growing from the Root.”. She served on the core planning team alongside Parks & Recreation, Interface Studio, and Soil Generation, a coalition of Black and Brown women farmers, community organizers, and activists. The plan focuses on values of transparency, racial and economic justice, and inclusion while confronting the city’s legacy of structural racism and land-based oppression.

“Gardens are a demonstration of agency and power,” she emphasized. “They’re about feeding ourselves, caring for each other, and creating a self-determined paths to healing and wellbeing.”

The 10-year framework established by the plan shares a roadmap for investing in agriculture and food justice across Philadelphia. It identifies the resources, policies, and programs needed to grow urban agriculture opportunities for all Philadelphians while uplifting the city’s rich history of urban farming and gardening.

Dr. Ashley B. Gripper holding vegetable in community garden.

IMAGE: WREN RENE

Her work on the plan has already catalyzed significant change. Responding directly to the plan’s recommendations, the William Penn Foundation has committed $3.1 million to preserve urban gardens and farms in Philadelphia. This funding helps to bring community control over land and food resources.

Gripper’s approach is inherently intersectional. Her research on community gardens explores how agriculture fosters collective agency, cultural preservation, and spiritual healing. “Agriculture is a manifestation of collective agency and community resistance,” she explained. “It’s about reclaiming our relationship to land and rewriting the narrative of extraction and exploitation through building community power.”

In reference to growing food, one participant in Gripper’s qualitative study said, “I feel like I found my ancestors…there’s this undeniable connection and communication that happens that has just given me this sense of belonging and knowing. As soon as I started farming, it just felt like this is where I’m supposed to belong—this is what I’m supposed to be doing.”

Teaching Action, Seeding Change

While a scholar in the Health Policy Research Scholars (HPRS) program, Gripper created the Teach-Out “Black Agricultural Solutions to Food Apartheid.” The free online course encourages participants to explore ancestral foodways, agrarian practices, and the spiritual connections that Black communities maintain with the land. To date, her Teach-out has had over 2,300 enrollees.

Dr. Ashley B. Gripper with Johns Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions after her invited lecture.

Gripper recently shared her work during an invited lecture hosted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions as part of their Quarterly Workshop Series. Speaking to students and researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, she explored the environmental justice lens of her work – connecting urban agriculture to systemic solutions for health disparities.

“We don’t farm because it’s trendy,” she emphasized during the workshop. “We farm because it’s necessary. It’s about reconnecting with who we are and building systems that honor our history and sustain our futures.”

What’s Next for Dr. Gripper?

Community Garden

IMAGE: WREN RENE

Now, as an assistant professor at Drexel’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and an affiliate of The Ubuntu Center on Racism, Global Movements, and Population Health Equity, Gripper continues to push traditional boundaries in academia.

Gripper’s advocacy extends beyond research. She recently launched a Research Accountability Circle to ensure her projects align with her community’s needs. “I don’t want to ask questions that aren’t useful to the people I’m accountable to,” she said. “The communities I serve should guide the research – not the other way around.” This type of community-driven research reflects the values she developed as a Health Policy Research Scholar.

Dr. Ashley B. Gripper surrounded by plants

IMAGE: JULIE ALBERTSON

As Philadelphia’s urban landscape evolves, Gripper remains steadfast in her mission: “We’re not waiting for permission to be recognized or do what we need to do for our futures. We are building our collective power – on the ground, in the classroom, and through political strategy. It’s our responsibility to show up for each other and build futures rooted in justice and care.”

Join us in celebrating our HPRS alumni community, including Dr. Gripper, who is working to build more equitable and just systems for all communities. Do you know a scholar like Ashley who might be a good fit for the program? Encourage them to apply for our final cohort of scholars. Applications are due by 3 PM ET on March 11, 2025. Learn more here.

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