Lauren Jorgensen

I have discovered my passion for sustainable community development across a variety of avenues, and have certainly secured it as a student here at UW – Madison in Environmental Studies. Specifically, I am interested in ensuring sustainable food systems as urban sprawl across the United States and other parts of the world intensifies. A summer position at a local hospital provided me with the opportunity to learn about the intricacies of food security in my local community. I carried the same passion that I developed during my years at my hometown hospital to my new community of Madison when I accepted a position for the Greenhouse Learning Community program assistant. My focus as the food and environmental justice centered program assistant is to develop events and seek out/provide opportunities for current freshman to uncover and reinforce knowledge and concern for environmental and food related issues. Beyond being delicious, food is ultimately the hearth of success – and therefore it must be regarded as a human right. However, rapid rates of environmental degradation are reducing our ability to farm and feed the world population. Ultimately, I would love to work for a world organization in order to reduce the impact of environmental apartheid on starving, marginalized populations.

Lauren is an undergraduate studying Agronomy, Community and Environmental Sociology, and Environmental Studies. She has been involved in multiple research labs that analyze the intersect of environmental and public health. In her studies, her objective is to deepen an understanding of the interaction among people, policies, and the built environment – as well as the relationship between these interactions and a robust community food system. She is also engaged in the Greenhouse Learning Community and teaches a seminar on the implications of our food choices as a society and as an individual.