Ways to Stay in Touch with BFI During Social Distancing

With California now practicing shelter-in-place statewide, our thoughts are with all of you as we navigate this uncertain time together. Our top priority is everyone’s health and safety, and we know that access to healthcare, food, shelter, and other basic needs are core to keeping our community safe from COVID-19. Below we have posted resources if you are in need of services or can offer help to others. Included are mental health resources, vetted by the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program, for dealing with stress in these challenging times.

We will be rescheduling our Food Systems Career Panel for the first two weeks of November 2020 and the Berkeley Mobile Foodscape Map Scavenger Hunt for early fall 2020, and will be sending out more information as we approach those dates.

We are practicing social distancing, but please stay in touch with us, by checking the Berkeley Food Institute website as well as our social media channels. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for the most up-to-date news on our affiliated faculty, events, and general food systems happenings.

With more time to read, please consider pre-ordering Bite Back: People Taking on Corporate Food and Winning, co-edited by BFI affiliated faculty Kathryn DeMaster and Saru Jayaraman and set for release in early May. Bite Back highlights the efforts of workers, activists, and experts in addressing and shifting away from corporate greed in the food industry. DeMaster and Jayaraman also address structural issues within the food system, from environmental degradation to wage inequality. Pre-order your copy here.

Resources

UC Berkeley Basic Needs Center COVID-19 Living Guide

For up to date information on UC Berkeley Basic Needs resources and ways you can help during COVID-19, refer to this living document. It is frequently updated and includes information on food pantry access, financial resources, and more.

Rooting Resistance: Bay Area Food Resources

There are plenty of ways to support local businesses and communities while staying healthy and maintaining social distance. Visit this regularly-updated website for information on nearby food resources, including a guide to which local restaurants are still open and ways to support undocumented Californians during this uncertain time.

Farm Buyer-Seller Support During COVID-19

Are you in need of support to help sell, buy, or otherwise distribute local food in California as a result of impacts caused by COVID-19? Community Alliance for Family Farmers has developed this website to help keep our local food system strong.

Emergency Cash Assistance Fund for Tipped and Service Workers

The One Fair Wage Campaign has launched a fund to provide free, cash assistance to restaurant workers, delivery drivers, and other tipped workers and service workers who were already struggling financially and are bearing the economic brunt of this public health crisis. You can apply for aid or contribute to the fund here.

Mental Health Resources

To help alleviate stress, the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program has compiled a list of mental health resources, including:

Mental Health and Coping During COVID-19 from the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
Taking Care of your Family during Coronavirus Fact Sheet from the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS)
Five ways to view coverage of the Coronavirus from the American Psychological Association (APA)
Parent/Caregiver Guide to Helping Families Cope with COVID-19 from the The National Child Traumatic Stress Network
Just for Kids: A Comic Exploring the New Coronavirus from the National Public Radio