MESM 2021
Bio
Margaret Brickner discovered a passion for building a better food system as a child on her family’s sheep farm. In 2012 she interned at Food First and the Oakland Food Policy Council, where she developed and conducted policy research for Alameda County and the City of Oakland on soda taxes and the impact of food carts on brick and mortar businesses. Inspired by the power of community-based activism in the Bay Area, she co-founded the first Wisconsin chapter of the Food Recovery Network on the Lawrence University campus. The organization has donated over 15,000 pounds of food to the Appleton community in the past five years. In 2014 she graduated from Lawrence cum laude with a double major in Government and Environmental Studies. After graduation she took a position with the USDA Farm Service Agency, where she advised Wisconsin farmers implementing federally-funded conservation practices. With her decades of experience in traditional agriculture and food justice Margaret plans to explore sustainable solutions through the Corporate Environmental Management and Water Resources Management specializations. Post-graduation she hopes to contribute to building a better food system, particularly as it relates to sustainable agricultural production.