Berkeley Food Institute

This year, BFI's education program expanded opportunities for students to connect classroom learning at UC Berkeley and Haas School of Business - UC Berkeley with the real-world work of transforming our food systems.

Highlights from the 2025–26 academic year include:
🌱 38 students completed the Graduate Certificate in Food Systems
🎓 25 internships connected Food Systems Minor students with organizations across the food and farming landscape
🤝 Mentorship, career development, and networking opportunities helped students explore pathways into food systems careers
🚜 Field trips and experiential learning connected students with practitioners working to build more just, resilient, and sustainable food systems

Read the full Year in Review here: https://ow.ly/2jmY50Z8fJl

Looking for jobs, events, grants, internships, and other opportunities in food systems? Subscribe to our Food Systems Opportunities Newsletter here: https://ow.ly/S8IG50Z8fJk

📸 (BFI Education Director Jezra Thompson and students during a field trip to .)

Cultivating the Next Generation of Food Systems Leaders - Berkeley Food Institute This year has been defined by significant growth, deep community roots, and expanded opportunities for our students. Our educational and workforce development programming has worked to bridge the gap between classroom theory and the urgent, practical work of transforming our food systems.

BFI is hiring! We’re looking for six undergraduate and graduate UC Berkeley students to join our team working towards a just and equitable food system. These paid positions offer opportunities to learn and build skills in the interdisciplinary area of food and farm systems through hands-on projects and professional mentorship.

BFI is an interdisciplinary research, education, and policy institute that works in partnership with UC Berkeley and communities to advance a just and sustainable food and farm system.
Students make BFI run. We’re so excited to meet you. All applications are due on July 10th by 5 PM PT.

Find more information here: https://food.berkeley.edu/about-us/careers/

Join us for a conversation on the future of the Farm Bill, hosted by Jeanne Merrill of the Berkeley Food Institute and featuring Mike Lavender of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. In the aftermath of major cuts to SNAP in H.R. 1 that upended a decades-long farm bill coalition, the US House Agriculture committee has proposed its version of the next Farm Bill. Jeanne and Mike will explore where the Farm Bill stands now, how the current process differs from past reauthorizations, and what recent federal developments mean for the road ahead.

Register here: https://ow.ly/EfY050YWF31

Join us on Thursday, April 16th from 3-5pm at the Oxford Tract for an Urban Organic Transition Workshop. Panelists will share their perspectives of organics, and create space for them to share the challenges they may face and the solutions they may have. Featuring Panelists: Yolanda Burrell, Pollinate Farm and Garden, Catherine de la Peña, NRCS, and Lucas Hill, Agriculture Institute of Marin. Event is open to all! RSVP at https://ow.ly/zYGx50YCTmX

Happy Farmworkers Day from the Berkeley Food Institute 🧑‍🌾 The recording of Lunch & Learn Webinar: Working During Wildfires is available to watch on our YouTube Channel at https://youtu.be/1OGeVTTa9Ds?si=7cmKrLmk6oefKleY. Explore policy recommendations from the featured panelists to better protect our agricultural workers through local and state government.

Last week, the Berkeley Food Institute and UC Berkeley Journalism hosted a conversation on the future of ultra-processed foods in school meals at David Brower Center. Panelists Brian Ronholm, Beth Katz, Erin Primer, and Laura Schmidt explored what a healthy and equitable food future could look like for Californians in school–and beyond with moderation from Helena Bottemiller Evich. Thank you to all who joined us in-person. Stay tuned for the recording of the event to be released on our YouTube channel 🍏

BigThanks from the Berkeley Food Institute for supporting us during UC Berkeley’s BigGive 2026! Your generosity fuels the research, education, and policy work that makes BFI's mission possible. If you missed it, it's not too late — you can still support us at https://ow.ly/tYs250YwA16

Join the Berkeley Food Institute tomorrow, March 18th from 12-1pm for a timely discussion on what changes to SNAP by H.R.1 mean for California. As CalFresh cuts take effect, families, advocates, and policymakers are working to understand what comes next. UC Berkeley Professor Hilary Hoynes and Monica Saucedo from the California Budget & Policy Center will draw on research and policy analysis to discuss the role of SNAP in family wellbeing, and what these federal changes will mean for Californians. Register to learn more at https://ow.ly/1myL50YmLE3

BigGive is here ⭐ Join us in the online giving event today until 9pm PST. If BFI's work has informed your thinking, shaped your career, or given you hope for what a better food system looks like — now is your moment to give back. https://ow.ly/4KSl50YsuLr