Carlina Arango, M.S. Environmental Policy and Planning/M.U.R.P. ’25, and Lunia Oriol, M.U.R.P. ’24, have been named Fall 2022 Transformative Food Systems (TFS) Fellows. The University of Michigan fellowship recognizes the need for leaders who reflect the communities most affected by intertwined environmental, health, and economic food systems crises. 

Fellows in the two-year program study food systems from diverse disciplinary angles and gain critical skills needed to construct truly transformative food systems that are more equitable, health-promoting, and ecologically resilient. Both students are eager to take advantage of the opportunities the fellowship offers and are ready to make a positive impact with their work. 

“I became interested in food systems from my time at the University of Michigan Sustainable Food Program (UMSFP) and the University of Michigan Campus Farm,” said Oriol. “The more I immersed myself in urban agriculture, food production, and food justice, the more I knew that this was to be a significant part of my life’s work.” 

“To me, transforming the food system means shifting the system to become based on the principle of nourishment across all the different touchpoints of the system: workers, consumers, animals, land, etc., and centering cultural traditions and relationships. In other words, moving away from the current status quo of exploitation that is prevalent in our modern food system,” Arango said.