Sowing Equity and Social Learning through Activist Leadership

Megan graduated from Davidson College with a degree in political science. While at Davidson, she developed a deep interest in exploring comparative politics, economics, and histories that define urban and rural food landscapes. Her research includes looking at Brazil’s Agri-food industry, urban food insecurity in South Africa’s Cape flats, and China’s Food Safety Regulatory System. In the last two years, Megan has interned with the US-Asia Institute and the American Chambers of Commerce in Vietnam where she took part in various outreach initiatives on matters relating to US and Southeast Asian agricultural trade relations.

The Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab (‘the UBFood Lab’), a research group led by Dr. Samina Raja, housed in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University at Buffalo (UB) is dedicated to research that critically examines the role of local government policy in facilitating equitable, healthy, and sustainable communities. The Lab is especially focused on community food systems as a space and lever for creating positive change in our backyard (Buffalo) and in the Global South. The Food Lab’s research unfolds in collaboration with other research groups within and outside UB, as well as in partnership with community and planning organizations and local governments in the United States and globally. Drawing on its research, the Food Lab team provides technical assistance to community advocates, planners, and local governments on the use of policy and planning to create equitable food systems and healthy communities.