Food Security

Within the Food Security sphere, UC Berkeley offers the following resources to students and members of the campus This guide was created in order to help students find and naviagte those resouces. Please email us at technical@esc.berkeley.edu for resources we should add to this page

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CalFresh

CalFresh, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP, is an nutrition program that can help you stretch your monthly budget! CalFresh can provide eligible students with the ability to buy and eat nutritious and healthy foods! CalFresh benefits are pre-loaded monthly into an EBT card that can be used like a debit card at most major chain grocery stores, like Trader Joe’s, Safeway, and Costco. It can also be used at some smaller stores, like the Berkeley Student Food Collective!

Food Assistance Program

Food Assistance Program is for students who lack access to food in the short-term and are waiting for your CalFresh benefits, or are not eligible for CalFresh benefits, applying to the Food Assistance Program may be an option. Through the support of an additional funding source, we encourage all students who are experiencing food insecurity to review the Application for Additional Food Assistance on our Forms page.

UC Berkeley Food Pantry

UC Berkeley Food Pantry is a direct response to the need among the student and staff population for more resources to fight food insecurity––the lack of nutritious food. With rising fees, textbook costs, and living expenses, it has become increasingly difficult for students to juggle the costs of living with the costs of obtaining a university degree, and thus many students are finding themselves choosing between essentials such as food and the costs of college. The UC Berkeley Food Pantry was established to provide emergency relief to help students and staff at the University of California. It is a part of the campus-wide food security efforts.

University Health Services: Nutrition Reasources

Nutrition Reasources has resources for eating on budget, eating disorders and prevention, and healthy habits. Provides information on afforadable groceries, inexpensive and healthy meals, and nutritional eating habits

Cal Nourish

Cal Nourish is a way for staff to come together to help Berkeley students who struggle to make ends meet during the winter curtailment. According to the UC Undergraduate Experience Survey, 1 in every 5 UC Berkeley students self-report having to “skip meals in order to save money.” Finding money for food over the holidays can be an especially tough challenge for an estimated 800 of these students.