Explains the founding and mission of the interdisciplinary Berkeley Food Institute
TRANSCRIPT
Speaker 1:You're listening to KALX Berkeley 90.7 FM. And this is method to the madness coming at you from the Public Affairs Department here at Calex celebrating the innovative spirit of the bay area. I'm your host Ali Nasar and today we have Anne threat with us. Hi Anne. How are you? I'm great, thank you. And she is the executive director of the Berkeley Food Institute. A really interesting organization here on campus or really happy to have your insight, have her here with us in studio. Um, so again, you know, we have a lot of, uh, founders and new organizations [00:00:30] on to talk about, um, their, um, problem that we're trying to solve. So that's the first question I always ask is why was this organization created and what's the problem statement of you're trying to solve? Well, thank you very much for having me. And yes, I'm, the Berkeley Food Institute was formed purposefully with the intention of addressing some of the very large challenges in society that have to do with food and agriculture systems.
Speaker 1:So it's not purely foods specific, but also the way our food is produced all the way from farm [00:01:00] to fork. And you're probably aware that there are a lot of environmental concerns as well as social concerns about the current food system that are really contributing to some major problems for society. Um, those include, um, issues of climate change, uh, toxic chemical exposure and the environmental side on things like soil erosion, uh, water depletion. So those are really large environmental challengers. And there's also, there are also very large challenges in terms of the social issues. Um, both, [00:01:30] uh, food insecurity. And um, also on the flip side, obesity are major public health issues. Um, and very often actually food security insecurity goes hand in hand with obesity curiously enough. So those are just some of the major problems. Um, we also have major problems with farm worker exposure to pesticides, um, and inequitable systems of payment of wages in, in the food system, which is very clearly illustrated both in the farm work in agriculture, but also in restaurants.
Speaker 1:[00:02:00] So those are just some of the many, uh, array of problems that we're facing in society that really cross cut a hole. Um, you know, just many different topics. And the, the fortunate thing is that at Berkeley we had many different people working on these issues, but they're often in different departments in different disciplines and not always collaborating together. So the Berkeley Food Institute was founded about three years ago with the idea of bringing many people together to solve these very difficult [00:02:30] questions and to come up with innovative solutions, which brings this issue of innovation and finding entrepreneurial and unique policy ways to, you know, and also, um, scientific elements together to solve complex problems so that, um, yeah, the, the institute was brought together about three years ago with the involvement of the College of natural resources as well as the Goldman School of public policy. And then we also got on board the School of journalism with Pollan who was very [00:03:00] involved from the beginning and the school of law and school public health, which has become increasingly involved and very actively involved.
Speaker 1:So they're really, we have the fortune of getting people from multiple disciplines. There's also the college of environmental design has many people working on food and agriculture issues. We also have people in, in letters and sciences. So it really brings together people. It's food has really become a catalyst to generate lots of, lots of concern. And there are many, many students as well as faculty members [00:03:30] interested in the topic. Oh, how amazing. I mean, there's so many different people involved. And to create an umbrella organization in, in a, um, on a campus that's so high caliber with so many different really smart people must be a really fun position for you to be and to really harness this power and attack this huge problem set that you're talking about. Exactly. Yeah. It's very exciting because we're really being able to bring together serving as a hub to have this interaction amongst so many [00:04:00] people who care about this issue deeply.
Speaker 1:Um, and you know, we're fortunate again at Berkeley because Berkeley is an epicenter of innovation in this field, in both in the natural sciences and the social sciences. And a lot of people don't know that. I mean Berkeley is known for what are his actually at land grant college where the classic universities that has a connection to agricultural production and you know, being a land grant colleges has leadership in agriculture, but people don't think of it that way because we're not in a rural setting [00:04:30] yet. There's so much work going on here that has to do with food and agriculture. So I think the Berkeley Food Institute is not like we're reinventing anything that's happening at Berkeley, but just bringing people together to create greater visibility and also to help facilitate cross disciplinary interaction. So I can talk a little more about that, but I should mention that we right now have 110 affiliated faculty members from across the university and we welcome more, we're happy to have more faculty members join us.
Speaker 1:And we also have many, many students [00:05:00] who are engaged and interested in this. And we've had the fortune of being able to upload employee, a number of students as well as provide some fellowships for students. So I understand and we're talking to anthrop, the executive director of the Berkeley Food Institute here on method to the madness on k, Alex Berkeley. And um, I'd like to understand first, you know, the founding of this organization. It sounds like it sounds so complicated, so many organizations you just walk us through. How does something like that happen on such a made big campus like this and [00:05:30] first from kind of the genesis of the idea to actually kind of getting it implemented in, in off the ground has to have to get its own slice of funding or how, how does this whole thing work? Well, great question. There are a number of, you probably know many institutes and centers on the university campus and some of them are within specific disciplines.
Speaker 1:Um, but as I mentioned, the Berkeley Food Institute is highly interdisciplinary. And what happened actually initially, one of the sparks that made this happen was that there's a person is an alum from Berkeley, um, and he [00:06:00] was a, he's a philanthropist and very interested in environmental issues. Um, his name is Bob Epstein and Bob, um, was very interested in, in the idea of, of developing an institute, um, uh, three years ago that really Dell went beyond environmental issues that he was very interested in previously. I mean, it's still obviously food systems relate to environment, but he developed an interest that went beyond that. And um, Bob has a phd from, [00:06:30] uh, from cow in engineering and he came to the College of natural resources, Dean, um, named Keith Gillis and the dean of the Goldman school public policy. And Bob was actually on the advisory board for the Goldman school and expressed his interest.
Speaker 1:He also got Michael and, and involved early on to talk about this idea of bringing people together at, at cal to really help make a difference in food systems. Um, Bob, as many of us share the, the notion that it, that food [00:07:00] systems really is an crucial issue that intersects with some of the very critical issues of our time. So, you know, again, these social environmental, economic marketing policy issues across the board. So he felt that there was a great prospect of bringing together many people to leverage the research that's going on here collectively to effect policy change and to affect practical change. So that's what Berkeley Food Institute was founded on the basis of really wanting to [00:07:30] leverage research and bring researchers together with practitioners and policymakers to affect change. So it has a very outward facing mission, which is to support transformative change and food systems and to promote diversity, justice, resilience and health and food systems.
Speaker 1:Is there anything else like this in the world? You know, there are other institutes, um, at other campuses and in fact, food systems has gained great attention, uh, throughout the [00:08:00] nation and in fact the world. But I think on the Berkeley Food Institute is, is somewhat unique and, or is unique in the sense that there we have so many disciplines involved. We have done sort of an analysis of, of different institutes that have some similarities and um, some of them are interdisciplinary indeed, but they don't necessarily involve the policy elements and the cultural and the sort of journalism. So we have, you know, the assets of having multiple dimensions that aren't quite covered as much [00:08:30] as other institutes. So I think we have a great promise in that way of really effecting change. Like, you know, you had a great momentum in the founding story of having someone with a vision and having some, some introduce disciplinary leaders involved.
Speaker 1:Right. So how, tell us a little bit about your background and they had this idea and then they needed someone to actually run it. So how did you get involved? Well, I should also say before I've personally got involved, um, the deans involved, um, [00:09:00] decided to, uh, appoints faculty co-directors to get it going. And so we have two faculty co-directors, um, named Claire Kremen and Allister Isles, both from the College of natural resources. And they had already been very active in developing what we call the diversified farming systems center. So that also had to do with sort of diverse and ecologically sound agroecology methods that are used mostly in organic production systems. So that was something that they were already doing research on. And, um, the Dean and [00:09:30] others felt that they were be good co-directors, Dick Chair to get the ideas going and they formed a committee to help get that going as well from multiple disciplines.
Speaker 1:Um, and then held a, a sort of a founding symposium to get ideas from external stake holders as well. So all that, that first sort of year was really focused on kind of getting ideas and figuring out where it was going to go. And then they announced the executive director position. I applied for that and I was unfortunate enough to receive the position after [00:10:00] many interviews and discussions with the group. So yeah, it was a no loss and practically, yeah. Well I have a background, it's very interdisciplinary, which is appropriate for this job. Um, I, um, it actually was years ago, a postdoc here at Berkeley, so I know Berkeley quite well and have had interaction for many years with, um, with people who work at Berkeley. Um, but I have a background in both the natural sciences and the social science is mainly in sustainable agriculture.
Speaker 1:And, um, [00:10:30] I did work internationally in Latin America on the intersection of environment development and food systems. So I was very interested and did a lot of work on, uh, social issues having to do with the impacts of, of unsustainable farming in developing countries, uh, and in the United States, but mostly in Latin America. And then I worked for some years in research, but then I worked in a policy institute called the World Resources Institute as the director of sustainable agriculture for many years. Um, and [00:11:00] then I worked for a short time and the government actually to, um, providing a grant program to sustainable agriculture programs. Um, and then I was in the private sector. I actually was a sustainability director at a, at a organic vineyards up in Sonoma county for many years. And I worked very closely with growers and with cooperative extension. Um, but my, my background really touches on a lot of areas for quite a while.
Speaker 1:Actually my early work in my dissertation for my phd was, um, on farm worker issues, um, and exposure [00:11:30] to pesticides and the banana industry. So that was in Costa Rica. So I, yeah, I really have addressed a lot of different issues, but my passions are really about justice and, uh, sustainability in, in food systems and broadly. So I was really excited about this because I think that BFI brings together so many different, um, interesting people topics and it just seems like a great fit too to create help to create this building of partnerships. I, my own background [00:12:00] has really always been cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral. So even though I have worked in a number of different jobs, it's been similar themes that help to bring together multiple parties to the table to help to make significant changes in society. Okay. We're talking to anthrop today. She's the executive director of the Berkeley Food Institute, a new ish organization here on campus, interdisciplinary.
Speaker 1:We're talking about, and this is methods to the madness on KL expertly. I'm your host. Tallinn Huizar and um, [00:12:30] so, and you, you were given this like, uh, after a year's worth of idea generation by the, the, the faculty co-chairs, um, your committee members, the committee members, you were, uh, handed over this kind of, you know, grand idea with lots of different ways it could probably go. So I'm interested to understand how it's been a couple of years now. How did you decide what the initial projects or where you're going to invest the [00:13:00] institutes time initially? Because the problem statement that you started off the show with is huge and you could go a million different ways. So how did you decide where to, cause I'm, I'm assuming you want to move the needle on a few different things and really make an impact. Definitely. Well, so even before I joined the group involvement, the, our faculty co-directors and others involved in the initial executive committee, um, had identified a few areas where they felt, you know, important work needed to be done and in particular, um, people were interested [00:13:30] and I was very interested in, in greater utilizing the existing research on campus and to be able to leverage that more effectively, communicate that more effectively to policymakers and also to engage in public education that can help raise awareness of not only the strengths of the university professors and researchers, but also connect with community people.
Speaker 1:As you know, again, Berkeley is known for some of the leading work, like um, leading innovations and not from Alice Waters and Chez Panisse and all that, but [00:14:00] also food justice activism is very strong in this area. So we really was an interest in connecting the work of the university with that broader community. And some of that was definitely already happening. Absolutely. But the idea was to give greater visibility and strength and support to those efforts. I mean, another example would be a lot of education was going on by a motivated by students and initiated by students like the student organic gardening association. And again, we just wanted to be able to give greater strength and visibility to those kinds of opportunities. So [00:14:30] when I came on board, um, we realized that one of the first things that we could do is develop, uh, a small seed grant program, uh, for projects that were innovative, cross disciplinary and aim to effect change.
Speaker 1:So we put out a request for proposals to all faculty members on campus, um, to uh, come with projects that were cross disciplinary in nature and aim to address some of the major issues that were of concern in food systems. What is the seed [00:15:00] grant proposal? Well, a proposal. What basically what it meant is that they put together project ideas that were about different issues, um, ranging from urban farming issues to nutrition and health challenges and then their small projects. And we had small amounts of funding and like $25,000 for each grant. Um, but they were going to be doing research on these topics. It proposed research to us that, um, were going to affect these, these, you know, help provide information that [00:15:30] could solve these issues or come up with new innovations. So we had 24 applications in the first round, which involved literally dozens of people across the campus cause they weren't just alone applicants.
Speaker 1:They were working in partnership. Um, so we only could pick five out of those 24 are, we're expecting maybe 12 or dozen or so, but we're really excited. So I have to say this was, the development of this program was done in collaboration. Of course [00:16:00] with our faculty co-directors, it wasn't just me, but we came up with the search committee and, and we were just really delighted at the quality, um, and the array of things that were proposed. Um, great projects. And unfortunately we can only choose five. Um, but then we did a second round of those, those research projects, um, are the requests for proposals in the second year too. And we'll do the first one was in 2014 as one of the first things that I was involved in doing when I came on board. And of course that, that great for me to [00:16:30] learn more about all of what's going on on campus.
Speaker 1:I already knew some of what was happening here, but part of my initial orientation was just to meet lots and lots and lots of people to learn about what's going on here. And then people applied to this program, which advanced my learning too. So can you tell us what are some of the grants that were awarded? Well in the first, yeah, so in the first round we have one that's very, very unique. We received a lot of attention. It's unique. It's on, um, urban foraging that is basically hunting around for interesting. [00:17:00] Um, you know, uh, plants that are edible that are underrepresented and people don't realize that these kinds of plants are actually edible, but they actually can provide good nutrition. Um, when you go to the farmer's market or to a grocery store, now you can buy Dandelion Greens that are grown, but it actually, there'll be available in your own backyard for many people in their own backyard.
Speaker 1:But they're also located often in kind of urban lots. And so this project did an analysis, kind of a mapping analysis of all of these places where they could find so-called [00:17:30] weeds, but which actually could be foraged plants. Um, so that was one of the interesting projects and it actually morphed into a more complex project that involves also identifying in farms in rural areas, these types of weed. Um, you know, weeds that have always been considered weeds on farms are marketed very small quantities, but they're trying to explore the opportunity for further market potential by getting upscale restaurants involved in others. So I mean, there was a concern about how these weeds could [00:18:00] be used in so-called food deserts. You know, in areas where there's a lack of nutritious food. Um, and certainly there are some prospects for, for these weeds in those areas, but there also are opportunities in other areas to greater utilize these.
Speaker 1:So that's one area. Another one of them was on, um, on, uh, urban agroecology. So similar urban farming areas. We have one that has to do with um, farm workers and farm small farmers in Salinas Valley [00:18:30] that are interested in land access to develop their own farms and still another one on nutritious and healthy making, um, snap this food stamp recipients, um, considering, uh, healthy beverage purchases as part of a package of Ben or opportunities and potential restrictions on unhealthy beverages for snap recipients. So those are just some of the kinds of things that we're, that we're supporting. Um, and in this we also have one on on, on labor conditions. [00:19:00] So that's another area and it's really important in the restaurant workers industry. So it really spans quite a range of issues. Um, and we also continue that program this year. We are continuing the program this year.
Speaker 1:Um, so yeah, that's a really interesting, a lot of great ideas. So, um, exhilarating to mind this, you know, very fertile ground for ideas. It is. Yeah. And it's also been interesting cause the scope ranges from very local [00:19:30] to global. Um, I think people have had the impression that most of our work is focused on California and local, but we are very interested in many faculty are doing international work and we've even had a chance to delve into that. So basically research is one of our main areas of work, but linking that to policy into practice. So if you notice most of the topics I mentioned do have a link to affect change. So we're really trying to encourage these kinds of projects that really have prospect to communicate results that can help lead to change. [00:20:00] And we're speaking with anthrop here. She's the executive director of the Berkeley Food Institute here on campus.
Speaker 1:And this is KLX Berkeley 90.7 FM method to the madness. I'm your host Ali in his are. And so we were talking about the seed grant program, but you guys also do a lot of other things. We do, yes. So tell us a little bit about a lot. There's a lot of educational things there are. Yeah, we sound like they're both for the community and at large on campus. Tell us a little bit about that. Well. Um, we've been really doing a lot of public education events. Um, we have had [00:20:30] for the past, uh, two years, um, of forums, monthly forms that we call the food exchange forum, but also hosted every other public education events. And that brings together, it's usually a forum that involves internal speakers or Berkeley speakers, but also people from other sectors of society like, like Ninjas, nongovernment organizations or um, government agency representatives and or, um, farmers in some cases who come [00:21:00] to speak on critical issues.
Speaker 1:And we've covered a huge array of topics in that ranging from climate change and agriculture to livestock issues and animal agriculture. Um, also issues of farm, you know, farm worker issues. Um, and let's see a number, oh, we also did a really interesting forum on innovative businesses that are exploring innovative business models. So there really has been a whole array of different topics. We also did a really great forum that attracted more than 300 people [00:21:30] or about 300 people last spring on justice and food systems that had some really excellent speakers. Um, talk, talk about that very important issue on all different levels. So, um, yes, those public education events are free and they've been available to the public. Um, and we've continued them this year we were doing, um, fewer just because of, we don't have the capacity to do too many, but we're doing an event that's going to feature Marianne Nessel who's a very well known speaker and [00:22:00] writer, um, talking about her new book on Soda Politics and it's actually going to be focused.
Speaker 1:That book is focused or one of the main issues is focused on the Berkeley soda tax. So that will be on November 4th. Um, and we also have a speaker who is the secretary of the California Department of Food and agriculture who's coming on November 9th. And we're very excited about that too. She's going to be featured in it in a public, in a public forum. So those kinds of events have just raised attention to these, to [00:22:30] these issues. And also again, enable this kind of cross-fertilization between different people who are working on these issues from different perspectives. And for people who want to really see the full calendar where they go to food. Dopper Clinton Edu. Yes, that's our website. Yep. food.berkeley.edu and the events, um, section has, has our calendar and also information on these featured events. We also publicize events for other people. So there are many other events that are happening on campus that have to do [00:23:00] with food and agriculture.
Speaker 1:So we are happy to post those events on our calendar and that goes right into the cal calendar. So, um, and also community events in the bay area, we sometimes publish publicize those as well. So it's a great place for people to go who just want to learn about what's going on with food systems. Okay, great. So I'm going to say in addition to doing those public education events, we've been very involved in facilitating a committee that has developed a minor in food systems. And some [00:23:30] people, especially from the community might want to know what does that mean. So basically, um, as you know, when you're, when you're in college you can get a major in something. Well you can also get a minor in a topic and many, many people are interested in food as a minor. So they may have a major in like in like ecology or in pest management or in um, let's say, um, anthropology, but they might want to minor in food systems because they have a particular interest in let's say food and culture.
Speaker 1:So they might have a major in anthropology and a minor [00:24:00] in food systems and then focus on that same thing with like nutrition. They may focus as their major in nutrition sciences, but they won't want to do food systems more broadly as a minor. So we're really excited that, um, that Berkeley has now, UC Berkeley has now launched a new food systems minor and the Berkeley Food Institute played a role in enabling that to happen by facilitate facilitating a committee that helped to put together the curriculum. So now any student, any undergraduate can minor in food systems, which is a [00:24:30] needed topic. Definitely. That's my next question for you is as we come towards the end of the interview is, um, one of the fundamental issues we have as a race now is just the explosion of the populations. We've got the same earth, but we've got a lot more people that we've got to feed.
Speaker 1:Right? So as that, you know, supply and demand equation and starts to change fundamentally. What do you, from your seat and someone who studied this your whole career and is now at the nexus of all this innovation, what do you think is the biggest [00:25:00] kind of levers that we need to push to really create a, uh, a system that is just, and, and healthy and like where, where are the really big bets that have to be placed? I mean, I know my big super progressive friends are always like anti Monsanto. Like either if we get rid of them, we'll have everything solved, but I'm sure it's much more complex on that. What's your opinion on that? Well, it's very complicated of course, and it'd be very difficult and just a short interview to kind of characterize the complexities. [00:25:30] But I do think one thing we really need to stress is that often the problem or the issues of food access and food security internationally are posed as one of just a technology question of feeding the planet by increasing yields, increasing productivity.
Speaker 1:But in fact, so much of the challenge has to do with distribution and access. I'm not saying that there's not a production problem because there isn't many places, but in some parts of the world, including the United States, there's actually overproduction of some [00:26:00] goods and products. So I think part of the challenge is to reframe the question of feeding the world as one of, you know, how do we enable access to healthy and nutritious foods, affordable foods for everybody in the on the planet, and to overcome these great discrepancies in inequities that we have and where people do have incredible abundance and over abundance of food and in other places where they have great scarcity of food or scarcity of good food. So it has to do with income issues. [00:26:30] It has to do with poverty, it has to do with policy, it has to do with control of food systems.
Speaker 1:So it's very complex issue, but we're trying to address those issues in a holistic way. This really, we believe at the Brooklyn Food Institute that solving these issues and coming up with innovations really requires a multi-sectoral, you know, systems approach. And we've focused in on a few key key topics or themes. Um, and we're trying to hone in on more of those. And, um, I'm actually say focus even more of our efforts [00:27:00] in those areas. But one of the areas is, does have to do with, um, ensuring that all people have access to, um, nutritious and affordable food. And another area that we think is really crucial when there's a great gap of work has to do with ensuring healthy and fair, uh, labor conditions, which is often something that's not addressed that much in food systems. Um, but as key to sustainability of food, food provision and food access.
Speaker 1:And then the third areas is accelerating [00:27:30] the adoption of what we refer to as agroecology, which is the integration of agriculture, antiques or ecological principles in agriculture, but also addressing the social issues in agriculture. So people refer to that sometimes as sustainable agriculture. But agroecology has a particular meaning that has been actually really, there's a lot of innovation and pioneers in agroecology here at the University of California at Berkeley. And we really feel that that, you know, accelerating the adoption of agroecology is crucial, um, at a [00:28:00] global scale. So those are some of the key areas, but there's a lot more to be done. Of course, market issues, consolidation in the food system, you know, there really are a multiplicity of, of challenges but also opportunities. And I think the excitement that has been generated at Berkeley in this area is just one reflection of promise actually.
Speaker 1:And um, you know, real potential to bring about change. And we're, I mean to me it's exciting at this point in my career. I've been working on this for many years, always in partnership [00:28:30] with lots of people. But I think right now I've just feeling an accelerated element of, of, of interest in and enthusiasm on the part of many, many people from multiple sides. So that's great. So I always like to end the interview with asking you, um, if everything was to go exactly right, what would happen five years from now, what would you think? What would be, if I Berkeley Food Institute, you check it out everybody, whole lot of food.berkeley.edu what kind of impact, what would the organization look like five years from now? [00:29:00] Well, I do think that our, our vision is really to, to achieve, you know, some elements of transformative change in food systems.
Speaker 1:And it's hard to know exactly how that will be characterized, but I think we can put ourselves on the map by achieving, you know, really greater equity in access to nutritious and healthy food. And that has to come about through policy change. I didn't get a chance to talk too much about our policy program, but really we need people on board from, you know, the government, [00:29:30] all government agencies to really place this on the forefront of healthcare. Um, you know, really food is can be an entry point to health. Um, and also for assuring, um, the wise use of natural resources and mitigation of climate change can happen through effective agriculture practices. So I think we really want to put ourselves on the map and you know, really, um, uh, develop this organization so that we can leverage the research and really effect these changes through policy and through practical changes.
Speaker 1:[00:30:00] So I think the, the possibility is in reach and we just need to focus in on a few key issues. So. Okay, great. Well there you have it. That's an through up the executive director of the Berkeley Food Institute and Interdisciplinary Institute here on campus. Go check them out of food.berkeley.edu. They got a lot of great events coming up this fall. You should get involved if this speaks to you, if you're a student, consider getting a food systems minor. It sounds like a really interesting topic. You can check out our programs and our events to, yeah, there you go. [00:30:30] So thanks a lot for listening everybody. Uh, this has been method to the madness on KLX Berkeley 90.7 FM. I'm your host selling his art. Thanks for joining and have a great Friday. Everybody.
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