The Center for Diversified Farming Systems is an interdisciplinary research hub that examines how biological, economic, and cultural diversity affect the productivity, resilience, sustainability, health, and equity of agriculture. This team of internationally-recognized experts in a broad range of both natural and social sciences is uniquely positioned to rethink agriculture and find solutions to restore ecosystem services, sustain biodiversity, equitably promote farm livelihoods, and ensure food security.
Research
Research Centers
The Berkeley Food Institute was founded in 2013 by a group of researchers with the Center for Diversified Farming Systems. Since then, we have continued to collaborate with and support multidisciplinary research centers with faculty and staff at UC Berkeley and beyond.
Center for Diversified Farming Systems
Food Labor Research Center
Researcher and labor activist Saru Jayaraman founded the Food Labor Research Center at UC Berkeley in 2012 in collaboration with the Berkeley Food Institute and Goldman School of Public Policy. While several university centers focus on labor, the Food Labor Research Center is the first academic institution in the country to focus on the intersection of food studies and labor studies.
Growing Roots
Growing Roots started in 2015 as part of a research project led by Jennifer Sowerwine to provide training and facilitate resource sharing and networking among small-scale farmers, ranchers, and farm educators throughout the Bay Area. With support from BFI, the project developed into an examination of how urban agroecology in the East Bay can address a lack of good food access and community green spaces.