Theme: Agriculture & Food Justice

Cultivation of Vertically-Farmed Microalgae for Biofuel Production

Project Description

VFB is seeking funds to create a sustainable biofuel from microalgae. Their goal is to create a model for growing renewable fuels with low carbon impacts and to eventually generate algae for Berkeley research labs and support future research into sustainably grown algae.

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UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Crops of World Internship

Project Description

As a senior studying Conservation with a focus on agroecology and rural development, I would like to incorporate the knowledge I have acquired from the past several years of classes on environmental justice as well as conversations from within the agroecology community on campus. 1. Garden for Ohlone foods and other Bay Area/Northern California indigenous foods would be added to the North American section. 2. There are various agroecological methods that could be replicated on a smaller scale within the garden as a display, including intercropping, no...

Fannie Lou Hamer Farm Project

Project Description

The Fannie Lou Hamer Farm Project is a Black, student-led initiative organizing around Black wellness and land-based learning and healing on and around campus. We are exploring the intersections of Black liberation and ecological justice through agroecological and Afro-Indigenous land-stewardship practices. Our goals are to (1) increase access to land and food, especially for Black students (2) provide land-based education in topics such as regenerative agriculture, food systems, agroecology, and Black agrarian histories (3) promote connection between people...

Genomic Screening for Mold-Resistance Genes in Oyster Mushrooms

Project Description

Vertical Farming at Berkeley is seeking funds to support research on oyster mushrooms, which are alternative food sources that can reduce food inequity. They will be researching how to create a mushroom resistant to the Trichoderma mold, and hope that their strain can eventually be used in campus dining halls as a meat alternative.

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Project Poster (coming soon!)

Oxford Tract Farm Logistics

Project Description

BSF's primary goals with this funding are to continue farming at the Oxford Tract, and other gardening spaces, which require space in the greenhouse and water, and continue being able to pay students for teaching the agroecology in action decal. Their work aims to reconnect UC Berkeley students with the land through anti-oppression and decolonial frameworks. They also donate food from the farms to the Basic Needs Center as a way to support food-insecure students on campus.

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Crops of the World Innovative Interpretation

Project Description

We aim to make more evidence-driven, inclusive and deeply educational signage for UC Botanical Garden’s Crops of the World Garden. This will promote thinking about sustainability in food systems among visitors and student groups. We are pairing this with a database of botanical garden signage from around the world to link gardens and inspire further innovation in this field. Communication with the public is an essential function of these living museums. We strive to make environmental justice messaging accessible and inspiring in a site that brings joy to visitors...

Island Justice Fellows Program II

Project Description

The Island Justice Fellows Program at the Critical Pacific Island Studies Collective (CPISC) enables UC Berkeley students to contribute to environmental justice practice, research, and campus community engagement opportunities concerning issues facing Pacific Islander (PI) communities, both residing in the Pacific Island region and in the diaspora in California. This year-long fellowship program supports a team of graduate and undergraduate students to address multiple gaps on the UC Berkeley campus: (1) the lack of institutional support for scholarship on the PI region...

Fannie Lou Hamer Black Resource Center Garden Project

Project Description

This project will be a student/community-led garden maintained to provide fresh food, as well as a platform to introduce students to different ways that we can sustain ourselves while improving lifestyle choices.

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Brown's Cafe Herbal Garden

Project Description

The Cal Dining Sustainability Team Garden Coordinators proposes a project to develop a new herbal garden with both raised bed and in-ground features at the site of the Brown’s California Cafe in the College of Natural Resource (CNR). Representatives from the Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) department, Campus Grounds department, Campus Access Services, and Campus Sustainability Office have been and will continue to be consulted throughout the process. The team proposes that educational signage be created to transform the space into not only a...

Decade II BSFC

Project Description

Over the past decade, the Berkeley Student Food Collective (BSFC) has served as a consistent and accessible source of affordable, healthy, and sustainably-sourced food for the Berkeley community. The BSFC is ready and eager to move into its second decade of operations: but its ability to further serve students will hinge upon critical updates to its retail storefront and staffing model. With the help of TGIF, the BSFC will be able to move forward with these key changes, allowing the organization to both scale and expand its work...