Sasha van

My name is Sasha van Beek, and I am currently completing my final year of a Bachelor of Agribusiness and Food Marketing, majoring in Supply Chain Management at Lincoln University.

In my opinion, the Food Industry is not only a form of individual cultural representation but an indisputable component of the global economy. However, the rapidly growing global population, and constraints of finite resources, require the Food Industry to employ more strategic food production, marketing, and supply chain activities to meet the world's increasing demand for a diverse range of sustainably produced high-quality products. My passion for sustainable, in both economic and environmental terms, food supply is what led me to my course of study. I want to design and promote environmentally sustainable production, manufacturing, and distribution practices, creating sustainably produced, high-quality food products for the world’s markets. After graduation, I intend to work within the Agricultural Industry in the Marketing and Supply Chain disciplines, learning from the industry professionals around me and using the knowledge already gained from my degree to achieve my personal goal of promoting environmentally sustainable products, and production practices globally. In the long term, I hope to use the knowledge and experience gained through my industry experience to join the Ministry of Primary Industries. I want to help make positive change for those within the Primary Industries and use my industry experience to ensure that all decisions are made considering the impacts on the entire food supply and value chain.

I have always been an active member in the community, and recently much has been around my University, actively trying to improve students’ experiences through my roles as a Student Representative, Future Leaders Academic Committee Executive Representative, International Club Secretary, and Volunteer Club Executive Representative. My wider community volunteer activities include supporting the Blood Drive, running a leadership day for Christchurch Girls High, volunteering at Hororata Primary School Community Day (Primary Focus), and supporting the Foundation of Peace Children’s Foundation through the ‘Walk with a Purpose’ fundraiser.

My recent achievements include my role as an Agribusiness Intern for Fonterra, where myself and another intern were tasked with developing a system that would measure and evaluate Farm Sources’ capacity, providing them with a matrix to ensure that their resources are not being under or over-utilised. Further achievements include my graduation from the Dale Carnegie Youth Course – Skills for Success, and my return to the said course as a Graduate Assistant Trainer. I have also been awarded a Lincoln University Dean of Agribusiness and Commerce Deans Award twice over the course of my study, along with the Lincoln University Future Leaders Scholarship.