The Transformative Food Systems (TFS) Fellowship at the University of Michigan is rooted in the idea that bold leaders are urgently needed who reflect the communities most affected by intertwined environmental, health and economic food systems crises. During the two-year fellowship, TFS Fellows 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.
Introducing the Fall 2022 Transformative Food Systems Fellows:
TK McKenzie
Carlina Arango
Coco Rios Escobar
Bio
What is your preferred first name (full name or nickname)?
TK, for Taylor Kaili
Where did you grow up?
Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. I am proud to be Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian)
Where did you attend undergrad and what was your major?
I attended Seattle University and double majored in Environmental Studies with a Specialization in Urban Sustainability and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. I graduated this June!
How did you become interested in food systems?
Hawaiʻi has a fragile ecosystem, disrupted and constantly threatened by settler colonialism. I became interested in food systems as an anxious child, terrified about the shipments of food being interrupted and my island home going hungry. I became interested in studying food systems when I began studying ecofeminism in college and learned about the role that Indigenous women and queer individuals have had in protecting Indigenous food ways and subverting big agribusiness.
What does transforming the food system mean to you?
Transforming food systems is localizing them to center vulnerable peoples, particularly Indigenous communities, in what is grown and how. This looks different for every area, dictated by their particularly ecosystem and settler colonial history. To engage in this process, I volunteer in mutual aid urban farms and distribute information about agroecology, Indigenous food practices, and ecofeminism.
What do you do in your free time?
I guess it’s too obvious to say gardening! I also love exploring new places and finding new bookstores. My favorite genre is queer science fiction and comic books. During lockdown, I got into the trend of hand knitting blankets and continue to struggle with chunky yarn!
What University of Michigan program are you in?
Bio
What is your preferred first name (full name or nickname)?
Carlina (car-lee-nuh)
Where did you grow up?
Chicago, IL; Portage Park on the NW side to be exact
Where did you attend undergrad and what was your major?
I attended Grinnell College where I majored in Anthropology and Spanish with an Environmental Studies concentration.
How did you become interested in food systems?
I have been fascinated with the role of food in my family’s stories and traditions since my childhood. In high school, I grew interested in food systems when I had a chance to start connecting the multiple facets of food by working on a greenhouse and food assistance project in the Near West side of Chicago. This interest has carried on into my college and professional experiences.
What does transforming the food system mean to you?
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.
What do you do in your free time?
In my free time, I hang out with my partner and two kitties, train capoeira, and try to find good spots to go dancing (reach out with any recommendations)!
What University of Michigan program are you in?
Bio
My name is Coco Rios Escobar. I was raised in Los Angeles, CA by immigrant parents and siblings from southern Chiapas, MX.
I moved away from Los Angeles to earn my B.A. from UC Berkeley in Molecular and Cell Biology and earn my minors in Global Public Health and Chicanx Studies. During my undergraduate career, I spent a semester away from school to live in my parents’ hometowns with my extended family. After returning to UC Berkeley, I became interested in studying food systems and seeking ways to feel more connected to land, community, and food such as what I had experienced in Mexico.
I view transforming the food system as fostering sustainable relationships to land, community resiliency, and food sovereignty.
I enjoy making my own kombucha, sourdough bread, and pizza at home along with taking multiple naps and finishing entire novels on multi-day camping trips.
What University of Michigan program are you in?
L’Oreal
Hawkes-Willams
Lunia
Oriol
Kenneth
Matthews
Bio
My name is L’Oreal Hawkes-Willams. I grew up in Detroit and did my undergrad at U of M where my studies centered around Ecology and African American Studies.
I became interested in food systems when I read about a spinach recall that affected 11 or so states. I was mortified at the idea of so many places sourcing their produce from one place and how one incident could affect so many people.
To me, transforming the food system means empowering communities with the knowledge to restore their environments while providing themselves with organic, nutrient dense foods; all while supporting local economies and community learning.
In my spare time I like to garden, make films and cook.
What University of Michigan program are you in?
Bio
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!
What University of Michigan program are you in?
Bio
What is your preferred first name (full name or nickname)?
Kenneth, Ken, or Kenny
Where did you grow up?
Detroit & Eastpointe Michigan
Where did you attend undergrad and what was your major?
Michigan State University – Bachelor of Organic and Sustainable Horticulture
How did you become interested in food systems?
I became interested in the food system by observing the diet related illness that plague my community and socioeconomic demographic.
What does transforming the food system mean to you?
To me transforming food systems means transforming people’s way of life. I believe this can be done by educating the public and possibly through food policy reform to assess the “safety”/
healthiness of consuming processed foods and sugary beverages. Overall transforming the food systems could potentially mean lessening the occurrence of diet related illness and fatalities.
What do you do in your free time?
In my free time I enjoy reading the Bible, journaling, outdoor activities, spending time with friends and listening to music.
What University of Michigan program are you in?
