UGA Geography Alumni Sarah Jackson Featured in GA Magazine

UGA Geography Alumni Sarah Jackson has transformed her passion for community service, sustainable food systems, and a love of outdoor spaces into a bountiful new career through her organization, Abundance Landscapes and Gardens. Jackson (AB ’11) attributes her fascination with farming and sustainability to her undergraduate education as a human Geography student at UGA. “A lot of the professors are really into local food issues,” she says.

“All of our projects were oriented around local community service involving food access or gardening or nutrition.” While Jackson was a student at UGA, she helped found Campus Kitchen, a sustainable hunger-relief organization designed to serve the Athens community and determine practical solutions for food waste. After graduating from UGA in 2011, Jackson went on to work for the GA Food Bank Association and the GA Emergency Management Agency before starting her own organization, Abundance Landscapes and Gardens, in 2020.

Through her organization, Jackson synthesizes her passions for sustainable landscapes and locally sourced food all while maintaining an emphasis on community centered non-profit work and education. The goal of Abundance Landscapes and Gardens is to help community members realize the potential of their underutilized outdoor spaces by transforming them into beautiful and bountiful environments while supporting local ecosystems.

“We get so much joy out of our garden and sharing that with our friends and family,” Jackson says. “To be able to extend that joy and connection beyond our inner circle to our community in a way that is still a viable business is really special.”