UC Global Food Initiative
The University of California Global Food Initiative “addresses one of the critical issues of our time: how to sustainably and nutritiously feed a world population expected to reach eight billion by 2025. This UC-wide initiative aligns the university’s research, extension, outreach, and operations in a sustained effort to demonstrate and develop solutions for food security, health, and sustainability. UC President Janet Napolitano, together with UC’s 10 chancellors, launched the UC Global Food Initiative in July 2014.”
The Berkeley Food Institute convenes the UC Berkeley Global Food Initiative Working Group, and leads or actively participates in the following UC Global Food Initiative-supported projects.
Basic Needs Security
Basic Needs Security refers to the food, housing, and wellness security of our community. We understand that basic needs have a direct impact on the mental-emotional-physical health, wellness, academic performance, professional development, and holistic success of our students.
The quality of life of our students has a major impact on their sense of belonging, persistence, graduation, and overall experience. Therefore, we refuse to accept hunger, malnourishment, and homelessness as part of our university.
UC Berkeley’s Basic Needs Security Committee is fully dedicated to leading the transformation of UC Berkeley into a basic needs secure institution of higher education.
Learn more about UC Berkeley’s Basic Needs Security efforts here.
Experiential Learning
The Experiential Learning Working Group of the UC Global Food Initiative works to identify, increase, improve, and make more accessible experiential learning (EL) opportunities in food and agriculture systems for University of California students. The working group also identifies associated best practices to share throughout the UC, California, the US, and the world.
Directory:
EL Programs and Courses
Case Studies:
From the Ground Up: Experiential Learning in Food and Agriculture Systems at the University of California
Leveraging Research to Affect Policy
The Leveraging Research to Affect Policy Working Group of the UC Global Food Initiative provides tools and examples of success for faculty and staff to engage in policy related to food and agriculture systems.
Mark Bittman: California Matters
What happens when a renowned New York food writer comes to California to soak in the Golden State’s agricultural and food scene? Find out in Mark Bittman: California Matters, a series produced by the University of California and the Berkeley Food Institute. The first episode premiered on June 8th, 2015.
Student Fellowships
Since 2014, the Berkeley Food Institute has hosted the UC Berkeley Global Food Initiative Fellows. Every year four fellows work on a range of projects related to UC Berkeley and UC-wide food systems education, research, and policy.
Other UCGFI Activities at Berkeley
Communication, Literacy, & Education for Agricultural Research (CLEAR)
CLEAR works to provide science-based, curated information on food and agriculture to a wide range of stakeholders including consumers, policy makers, and journalists through outreach activities while also providing faculty, staff, and students at UC Berkeley with opportunities to build science communication skills and engage in public discourse on social, economic, and biological aspects of food and agricultural technologies and policies.
