As nearly 42,000 students begin lugging college basics like backpacks, laptops and books to UC Berkeley for fall semester, the campus is unveiling new plans to arm all students with an even more basic necessity — healthy, affordable food.
A successful push last year to start helping an estimated 10,000 Berkeley students in need to sign up for CalFresh, a federally funded program that issues a free debit card for groceries to those who qualify, is intensifying, with a goal of 3,000 students applying in 2018-2019.
Across the UC system, 44 percent of undergraduates and 26 percent of graduate students say they are food insecure, meaning they experience reduced food intake or disrupted eating patterns at times due to a lack of money and other resources, according to a reportfrom the UC Global Food Initiative.
“We’re going all out on CalFresh,” says Ruben E. Canedo, food/basic needs co-chair of the UC-wide initiative and chair of the UC Berkeley Basic Needs Committee.