Student Profile: Mya Green
Perhaps one of the most valuable aspects of the Chatham experience is the community. In such unprecedented times, I (Abigail Kneuss ‘23), have become increasingly grateful for this community and its members. In an effort to showcase just a few of these great people, I’ll be doing a series of student interviews in the coming weeks. These highlights are for students, about students, and by students. This week features Mya Green ‘22.
Mya is a Sustainability student here at Chatham who dreams of improving the world through food. Learn more about her, her aspirations, and her advice to fellow students below!
Mya Green ‘22
Q: Why did you decide to study at Chatham?
A: My senior year of high school, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but I always wanted my major to include helping people. I thought that sustainability would be a good major for me because of that. I then learned that Chatham has such an all-encompassing sustainability major that I could go multiple directions with. I also was interested in doing nutrition, so once I saw that I could do sustainability with a focus in food systems, it seemed pretty perfect for me.
Q: What are your career goals?
A: I’m in the Integrated Degree Program, so I’ll be graduating with my bachelor’s in 2022 and then my master’s in 2024. I’m not exactly sure what’s after that for me, but I’ve played with the idea of culinary school because I enjoy hands-on learning. The good thing is that being in the field of food will allow me to be tangibly involved with my career. I’m also considering going a non-profit route to improve food access. Currently, I have a blog that I am hoping to expand into something else, so perhaps that will play in as well.
Q: Can you tell me more about your blog?
A: My blog, BlackBean Burgher, was created to contribute to a community of Black vegetarian/vegans in the 412. Besides posting for fun about a subject I’m interested and passionate about, my wishes are to contribute to a closer community of Black vegetarians and vegans, creating a movement that can eventually help food insecure individuals, families and communities through holistic, meatless meals. I hope to create a brand that Black people are familiar with, connected to, and can rely on to make local food systems equitable, reliable and healthy! It’s a little bit stagnant right now, but it’s acting as a platform to get my voice out there and promote any food initiatives that I might do in the future.
Q: Any other hobbies you enjoy?
A: Well, I guess you could say one of my main hobbies in the past year was avoiding contracting coronavirus and that’s limited what I do a bit. Besides that, I enjoy cooking, painting, candle making, yoga, and playing guitar. I really do like to be outside as well and that’s a lot easier with the weather getting nicer. I also have enjoyed a lot of TV series and movies in the past year.
Q: How have you seen COVID impacting our food systems?
A: We talked about this in my Agroecology class last spring when everything was unfolding. We saw how a lot of meatpacking factories were causing major outbreaks as people were working so close to one another. We also saw that as people faced unemployment, they started to struggle with food access because of financial insecurity. The food access and security issues that already existed pre-COVID were greatly amplified with sudden unemployment and food trading restrictions that occurred globally. Also, supply chain disruptions caused shortages in grocery stores of essential food items. It's something that I'd like to study more, but COVID has definitely highlighted how fragile our current food system is.
Q: Any advice for someone looking to eat more sustainably?
A: Individually, being vegetarian or vegan is a good way to dramatically change how sustainable your diet is because animals take so much water to produce and have high Co2 emissions. However, I understand that doesn’t work for everyone. A good alternative is to be mindful about what types of meat you consume because each animal has a vastly different carbon footprint. Beef being the worse and chicken being considered the best. I’ve also been trying to promote thinking about the entire food experience such as buying in bulk to cut down on packaging and using reusable bags at the grocery store.
Q: Anything else you would like to say to the Chatham community?
A: I guess in the past year I have been thinking about ways that Chatham can continue to improve diversity. It’s more about awareness than having a concrete solution right now. As a student body, we have to work to combat the stress and chaos of the world today to come together as a community. That’s really how my blog came to be, as I was overwhelmed with COVID and the election, it was too hard to think on a big scale, so I brought it locally. Thinking on a smaller scale on what you can personally do in Pittsburgh, or for your student body is not only far more impactful for your immediate environment, but also more helpful for your own mental well-being. The Chatham student body should try to harness the idea of community and challenge one another to create a better environment together.