Jennifer Zingone is a senior at The Colin Powell School, majoring in Political Science and Legal Studies. Raised in her family’s grocery store, she saw how a storefront could become a community hub and how acts of service could shape a lifetime of values. She understood early on that food brings people together, but she also saw how it exposed inequalities within the food system itself. This understanding led her to focus on agriculture policy and food systems.
Jennifer found her voice in public service through an internship in state politics, where she saw how legislation could have an impact on people’s lives. That summer, she interned at The Farmlink Project, where she researched food policy with a national focus. After her year there, she knew that she wanted to be involved in agriculture policy to make sure everyone had access to nutritional meals.
This experience launched her into a series of policy and environmental roles, including internships with U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, the Sierra Club, and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice. As an Undergraduate Fellow at The Moynihan Center, Jennifer has been trained to be grounded in ethical reasoning and constructive dialogue. Through her experiences, she has been able to travel the world learning about international food strategies.
After graduation, Jennifer will move to Trentino, Italy, and see firsthand the intersection of tradition and innovation within global agriculture. Afterwards, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in gastronomy, aiming to work at the United Nations’ World Food Programme. Ultimately, Jennifer aspires to receive the World Food Prize, an international honor awarded to those who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world.
