Berkeley Student Farms volunteers are expecting a harvest with crops that will help them alleviate student food insecurity through campus's Food Pantry.
For UC Berkeley freshman Luke Wonzen, what started as an attempt to find a hangout spot outside with a friend during a pandemic became an experience that “really highlighted the life cycle of the food” that is, volunteering at Berkeley Student Farms, or BSF.
BSF is a coalition of seven student-run garden spaces on campus that prioritizes food sovereignty and security, according to BSF volunteer Gabrielle Cohen.
Before the pandemic, a large portion of the campus population was food insecure and used services provided by the Basic Needs Center. As the pandemic exacerbated such insecurities, BSF helped to meet the increased demand for food by providing fresh organic produce to those in need and supplying 50% of the produce distributed at the Basic Needs Center’s Food Pantry last summer, Cohen said.