In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of UC Berkeley students hopped the fence at the underutilized Oxford Tract campus field station and began growing food for fellow students. With support from campus administration, they planted the seeds for what has since grown into a one-acre urban agroecology farm just blocks from the heart of campus. 

The following year, the Berkeley Student Farms (BSF) network received support from UC Berkeley’s Wellness Fund to launch the Land as Wellness project, supporting student farm interns, mindfulness and land-based wellness programming, and for the first time, a full-time urban agroecology staff position at Berkeley Food Institute (BFI). In 2023, ab banks (UC Berkeley alum, Class of 2016, and former ASUC Senator) joined BFI and began working alongside student leaders, BSF, and campus partners to expand food production and develop the Oxford Tract as a hub for urban agroecology education and practice.

Today, food production at the farm continues to grow. Students plant, tend, and harvest organic, culturally relevant produce while forming community, building belonging on campus, and exploring pathways into food systems work. Much of the food grown at the farm supports the UC Berkeley Basic Needs Center food pantry, giving student volunteers a direct and meaningful way to support food access on campus while learning how to tend to the land. 

“We’ve nearly doubled what we’re producing at Oxford Tract for the fourth year in a row, which is the type of material impact that goes beyond the harvest,” said ab banks, BFI’s Agroecology Director. “Students are gaining lifelong growing skills, finding community and belonging, and discovering professional pathways in food systems. At the same time, the farm gives us a direct way to contribute to addressing food insecurity.”

Camila Balanta, Class of 2029, began volunteering at the Berkeley Campus Farm after coming to UC Berkeley with little farming experience beyond gardening. She wanted to learn more about growing food while finding a way to contribute to her community.

“It’s really about giving back to my community and connecting with the land,” Balanta said. “Learning how to care for it so it can care for me. It’s really about community and self-sustainability.”

Student volunteers Camila Balanta and Jesse Waller harvesting pumpkins at Oxford Tract

Community was also part of what drew BFI’s 2026-2027 Campus Agroecology Fellow Nicole Lee to the farm. She wanted to help cultivate a community where food is “not only a source of nourishment, but also a means of fostering connection, equity, and belonging.”

Students can get involved with the campus farm through coursework, fellowships, student organizations, volunteer opportunities, and workshops. Through hands-on work at the farm, they learn agroecological principles and practical skills in areas like soil health, crop production, and water conservation, as well as learning first-hand how food moves from farms into communities.

For students like Lora Chang, working at the Oxford Tract has also changed how they think about their relationship to land and the food system. “I always think of this as an alternative classroom. I’ve always learned something very new, something that you might not usually learn in a regular lecture hall at UC Berkeley. It teaches us how we can be better stewards of the land, how we can live in a more reciprocal and circular world, and work towards a more sovereign food system,” said Lora.

Student volunteer Lora Chang at the Oxford Tract farm

As production at the Oxford Tract continues to grow, so do the opportunities for students to get their hands in the soil, learn where food comes from, and build relationships and skills they will carry with them after they leave Berkeley. 

Curious about how to support the Berkeley Campus Farm? Check out BFI’s Crowdfunding Campaign now through October 2026: crowdfund.berkeley.edu/bfi-26 

Interested in volunteering? Check the Jobs & Resources page under Volunteer Opportunities for the most updated weekly volunteer days and times.