Lunia Oriol
What is your preferred first name (full name or nickname)?
Lunia, but feel free to call me Lu!
Where did you grow up?
Wasilla, Alaska
Where did you attend undergrad and what was your major?
University of Michigan with a BSE in Climate and Meteorology
How did you become interested in food systems?
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. 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.
What does transforming the food system mean to you?
To me, transforming the food system has several necessities:
- Maximizing avenues to claim/reclaim land stewardship and ownership for historically marginalized groups in agriculture,
- Empowering urban and rural communities to develop their own community-driven solutions to providing accessible and nutritious food for themselves, and
- Dismantling corporate power in the global food system while holding corporations accountable for their contribution to environmental degradation and climate change.
What do you do in your free time?
I enjoy listening to podcasts, reading, knitting, learning languages, and brewing homemade kombucha!
