From the Field
Interview: BFI Project Scientist Federico Castillo
Bridges Research and Policy Action
I recently had the chance to interview Federico Castillo, a lecturer in Environmental and Agricultural Economics at UC Berkeley and a project scientist with the Berkeley Food Institute (BFI).
After years of research alongside colleagues in Oaxaca and Mexico City, Dr. Castillo created the farm labor research cluster to connect researchers from Mexico and the UC system to work together on issues faced by farmworkers across North America. Two and a half years later, Dr. Castillo is now expanding on this cluster to encompass a wider range of agriculture issues in the new binational agricultural working group.
In speaking with Dr. Castillo, it is clear that one of his greatest talents is bringing people together. From developing the new binational agricultural working group to founding Latinx & the Environment, Dr. Castillo builds communication lines for innovation and action across borders, ages, experience, and fields.
Our conversation touched on the creation of his new working group, the importance of policymakers in academic research, and his symbiotic relationship with the Berkeley Food Institute.
You recently returned from Mexico where you organized a binational agricultural working group of UC and Mexican researchers and advocates. Can you explain how this group came to be?
I always find it very fulfilling to work with Mexican colleagues. A couple years back, I realized that there are a lot of commonalities in the challenges for Mexico’s and California’s agriculture. This just doesn’t have to do with only the technicalities of producing food, but also it has to do a lot with the socio-economic context. There’s a lot of similarities there, especially with farm labor. We get a lot of farm labor from Mexico.
With that in mind, I proposed to Alianza to create a farm labor cluster group. That was intended to get Mexican and UC researchers together to identify common issues on farm labor and migration that affect California and Mexico. We had that group going on for two and a half years, until I realized that it was also a good idea to broaden the idea of binational work for agriculture in general, not just labor. And so that’s how this binational working group came to be. It started with farm labor, and now we’re expanding to other things, like farm production, trade research, technology, exchange of technology, and so on.
“We have identified five areas of research: labor, immigration, agricultural production systems, technology, and water.”
We have five subgroups within the working group.
“This is the first time that there is a systematic approach to analyze these issues together.”
What are some issues that are top of mind for the research team right now?
In addition to researchers, we also have high-level policymakers and UC administrators. We had California’s Secretary of Food and Agriculture, the Undersecretary for the USDA, Mexico’s Undersecretary for Agriculture, the Vice President for UCANR, and more.
I mention this because these two things complement each other. Academics should be looking at policymakers because we have to make sure that new policies are implementable, viable, legal, and that the funding is there. So I think the main goal moving forward is to coordinate policy and academics for potential collaboration.
The keyword is action plans. We launched the group about a month ago. We are in the stages of developing actionable issues, applying for grants, writing papers, and organizing conferences. What was discussed in Mexico during the launching of the group can actually be put into action, and so we’re organizing Zoom meetings and all kinds of stuff to make action happen.
Can you describe the role that Latinx & the Environment plays in supporting this event? Why is it important to you that students are involved?
In every single project that I’m part of I budget students. I think students are amazing. They keep you in check. They keep your feet on the fire. They also keep your feet on the ground when you want to come up with these grandiose ideas. Students sometimes say, “I don’t think this thing is going to fly, or we can do it better this other way.” Not to mention that students have skills that I don’t.
We had four undergrad students going to the Mexico City event three weeks ago. We had one from Berkeley, two from Santa Cruz, and one from Davis. They participated. They gave their opinions. They took notes.
“To the degree possible, we incorporate Latinx & the Environment students into these programs because we want them to learn and contribute to the research.”
The working group is administratively housed and supported by BFI. Can you talk about your role as a Project Scientist at BFI and how BFI’s mission informs the working group and vice versa?
I have a symbiotic relationship with BFI. BFI has been very receptive to my work, and I appreciate that. BFI provides very fertile ground for me to interact with other folks. In return, I try to bring as much as I can to BFI – in terms of students and funding when possible.
A good example is the seminar that is coming up. Neha, the brilliant policy director at BFI, is organizing a webinar about wildfire and farmworkers. That’s the kind of activity that BFI organizes that benefits me on an intellectual level. By going to the webinar, I know I will learn things that otherwise I would not be particularly exposed to. The work that the researchers in that webinar do is on the ground, interviews with farmworkers and farmers. I’m an economist.
We need to have a very long-term vision for these relationships. There really is no instant gratification. BFI is the place where you can develop these long-term goals.
“Working across borders takes a lot of time, a lot of effort, and it takes some money.”
We need to have a very long-term vision for these relationships. There really is no instant gratification.
“BFI is the place where you can develop these long-term goals.”