Since the Summer of 2015, the Center for Agroecology has supported UC Santa Cruz “Basic Needs” programs to increase students’ access to fresh, nutritious, and culturally relevant food.
Field to campus
A portion of the UCSC Farm is focused on production for campus Basic Needs efforts. Student staff and interns, guided by staff mentors, grow and harvest free and low-cost organic produce for students in need. Produce from the UCSC Farm is donated to the Redwood Free Market and other campus food access sites.
Produce and prepared meals
The Center for Agroecology also manages the Produce Pop-Up farm stand that operates twice weekly during the school year and the Cowell Coffee Shop: For the Peoples, a non-transactional student cafe in Cowell College on the UC Santa Cruz campus. The need-based Cowell Coffee Shop offers snacks, meals, and beverages to students free of charge with no proof of need required to ensure a destigmatized and open environment for all students.
Student leadership development
The Center for Agroecology employs paid student staff to grow, harvest, prepare, and distribute food for their peers, offering wrap-around support and food systems engagement opportunities to students of all majors. The campus farm, Produce Pop-Up, and Cowell Coffee Shop also host interns throughout the academic year, offering students varying levels of engagement with the sites and the campus food system.
UC Basic Needs Initiative
At a University of California system-wide level, Center for Agroecology staff member Tim Galarneau supports the UC Basic Needs Initiative that emerged out of the UC Global Food Initiative through the UC Essential Needs Consortium. His efforts include developing system-wide plans and ongoing support for Basic Needs Programs to serve the many UC students facing food and housing insecurity.