Nayeli Vargas, UCSC Basic Needs Sustainable and Equity Driven Food Sourcing Fellow
Nayeli Vargas (she/they) is a fourth year student at UCSC double majoring in psychology and art. She is currently working as a part of the Basic Needs program and Center for Agroecology through her role at the Cowell Coffee Shop on campus, a non-transactional cafe designed to increase student’s access to nutritious, culturally relevant meals, and other basic needs resources. In this position Nayeli has been given the opportunity to learn about sustainable food systems while assisting with the food recovery process. Taking on this role as a Basic Needs Food Sourcing Fellow will allow her to pick up the project where others left off, helping create a more equitable, reliable, and nourishing food system for students now and to come.
Samantha Rodriguez-Rosten, UCSC Dining Sustainable and Equity Driven Food Sourcing Fellow
Sam (she/her) is a second year student majoring in Environmental Science. She has a background in analyzing food sourcing and sustainable dining procurement through her work with the UCSC Real Food Challenge Team. Her passion for equitable food systems is deeply rooted in witnessing the stark differences in food accessibility between her family members from Mexico, who were farmworkers, and her relatives in Norway. This contrast fueled her commitment to advocating for fairness, sustainability, and regenerative stewardship in food systems. Sam hopes to create lasting change by promoting policies and practices that prioritize equitable access to nutritious food, while continuing to champion regenerative and sustainable solutions in the broader food system, both locally and globally.
Juan Bermudez-Medrano, UCSC Dining Sustainable and Equity Driven Food Sourcing Fellow
Juan (he/him) is a third-year student double majoring in Agroecology and Economics, while also pursuing a minor in Sustainability. His passion for food systems is deeply rooted in his family’s history as his relatives were farmers in Mexico and others were farmworkers in the U.S. Growing up in Salinas, CA, an agricultural town, he was exposed to the industry from an early age, allowing him to gain firsthand experience. Working in the fields himself fueled his curiosity not just about farming but the broader food system and its complexities. As a fellow, Juan aims to create a more sustainable system within school and the community, with a long-term vision of scaling those improvements to the larger more widespread system.