Policy Briefs
From the 2018 Farm Bill to food safety and urban agriculture, research on various food-related issues from our affiliated faculty and staff has resulted in policy briefs that assess the issues and inform next steps for policy options and recommendations.
Soil Health
Connecting Soil Health and Water in California
May 2022
Joanna Ory, Timothy Bowles, and Alastair Iles
California farmers are often concerned with water, what it costs, and its short supply. With recent droughts — made more intense by climate change — farmers have relied more on groundwater as surface water allocations decline. Irrigation management and careful crop selection will play important roles in helping farmers avoid these choices. Investing in healthy soil practices will also be an essential strategy for making the best use of rainfall and stewarding irrigation inputs wisely.
Grocery Workers
The Rise of Online Grocery Shopping During COVID-19: Impacts on Workers, Consumers, and Communities
October 2020
Diana Rivera and Sakeenah Shabazz
The COVID-19 pandemic upended virtually every aspect of life, casting new light on long-standing systemic inequities in our society and economy, including in those industries deemed “essential”1 like food retail. This factsheet is the result of interviews with employees of brick-and-mortar grocery stores and online grocery services, pick-and pack and delivery gig workers, business owners, and researchers during the summer of 2020.
2018 Farm Bill
Supporting Local Foods in the 2018 Farm Bill
August 2018
Ryan Smith
Recent Farm Bills have created a number of programs that support local and regional food systems. However, the reality remains that many farmers selling locally continue to face significant barriers—such as distribution or physical infrastructure, access to capital, and information gaps—that prevent them from expanding their businesses and thriving. As the 2018 Farm Bill continues to take shape, it is important to take a look at opportunities that will foster the growth of local and regional food economies.
Download the policy brief here.
In Defense of a Dignified SNAP: The 2018 Farm Bill
August 2018
Athena Roesler
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly called food stamps, is the largest program within the domestic hunger safety net aimed at providing necessary resources, improving dietary intake, and alleviating poverty for vulnerable Americans.
Download the policy brief here.
What Beginning Farmers Need Most in the Next Farm Bill: Land
August 2018
Adam Calo and Margiana Petersen-Rockney
The 2018 Farm Bill should prioritize measures that support land access and tenure for beginning family farmers—the highest barriers to new farmer entry and retention. We recommend three evidence-based strategies, along with specific policy measures, to improve beginning farmer and rancher success: Beginning farmers need financial resources, retiring farmers need incentives to transition land to beginning farmers, and state and federal policymakers need to protect farmland as a public good.
Food Safety
Healthy Farms and Nature are Not at Odds
FULL STUDY: JUNE 2015, BRIEF: AUGUST 2015
Daniel S. Karp, Sasha Gennet, Christopher Kilonzo, Melissa Partyka, Nicolas Chaumont, Edward R. Atwill, and Claire Kremen
The Berkeley Food Institute in partnership with the Nature Conservancy has released a publication brief on reducing environmental impacts of food safety practices. Produce growers in California have been pressured to remove non-crop vegetation and wildlife habitat on farms for food safety. A new study by Berkeley researchers shows this practice of habitat removal around farms to be costly, damaging to the environment, and not effective in reducing pathogens. In fact, it may result in higher prevalence of some pathogens.
Download the publication brief here and the full study here.
Pollinators
Policies to Protect Pollinators: Actions Needed to Avert a Global Crisis in Agriculture
FEBRUARY 2015
Terra Rose, Claire Kremen, and Ann Thrupp
This policy action brief outlines the following recommendations: 1. Support pollinator-friendly pesticide policies; 2. Conserve pollinator habitats; 3. Value ecosystem services; 4. Ensure participation and empowerment of diverse stakeholders; and 5. Support collaborative research and outreach.
Restaurant Wages
The Right to a Living Wage for Restaurant Workers: The Role of Service Charge Regulation
SEPTEMBER 2017
Sarah Ting
Many restaurant workers fall below the poverty line. In addition to an increased minimum wage, tipping and service charges (an obligatory fee included on the customer’s bill, sometimes in lieu of optional tipping) have the potential to help restaurant workers make a living wage. This brief recommends that service charge regulations be considered to close an existing loophole within California’s labor code.
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
In Defense of a Dignified SNAP: The 2018 Farm Bill
August 2018
Athena Roesler
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly called food stamps, is the largest program within the domestic hunger safety net aimed at providing necessary resources, improving dietary intake, and alleviating poverty for vulnerable Americans.
Download the policy brief here.
SNAP Can Support Health: Lessons for California and the Nation
SEPTEMBER 2016
Barbara Laraia and Tashara M. Leak
This brief provides information on the current implementation and health outcomes of SNAP participants in California and nationwide. Policy changes are outlined along with supporting evidence or examples of how these changes will help low-income Americans achieve a nutritious diet.
Download the policy brief here.
The Future of SNAP? Improving Nutrition Policy to Ensure Health and Food Equity
OCTOBER 2015
Hilary Hoynes and Sasha Feldstein
The Berkeley Food Institute, the Goldman School of Public Policy, and the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society sponsored a workshop in May 2015 on “The Future of SNAP: Improving Nutrition Policy to Ensure Health and Food Equity.” This brief summarizes key points and critical questions that emerged from the researchers, policymakers, activists and practitioners in attendance that day.
Urban Agriculture
Urban Agroecology: An essential resource for times of crisis and beyond
APRIL 2021
Alana Siegner, Charisma S. Acey, Jennifer Sowerwine
Urban farms merit status as protected and planned spaces in cities across the East Bay, the state of California, and the U.S. They are a vital “public good” worthy of public investment, in that they foster community stewardship and promote ecological restoration, environmental education and public health. They help balance the distribution of benefits and burdens of urban development, enabling vibrant, multicultural, equitable, and liveable cities. They provide food, ecosystem services, community education, and well-being. The Bay Area is poised to join a group of leading cities and regions in the U.S. advancing the paradigm of local, healthy food production as an inherent right of citizens in the 21st century “Agroecological City.”
Download the policy brief here.
Urban Farms: Bringing Innovations in Agriculture and Food Security to the City
AUGUST 2017
Laura Driscoll
Urban agriculture has the potential to change the face of hunger, community, and sustainability in urban areas by enabling cities to gain social and ecological benefits from vacant urban lands. Research in California provides important lessons for the nation. This brief provides justification for policymakers to adopt strategic policy changes to achieve urban farming goals in disadvantaged communities.
Urban Foraging
Urban Foraging in Municipal Parks and Public Schools: Opportunities for Policymakers
JULY 2017
Sabine Dabady and Philip B. Stark
By supplying accessible, nutritious food, foraging could provide a supplementary food source within the urban and peri-urban landscape as part of a multi-pronged strategy to help address socioeconomic inequities in access to nutritious foods. With state support for institutions that make it safe and accessible in municipal parks and public schools, paired with citizen education, foraging has the potential to become widely accepted and valued.
