Berkeley Student Food CollectiveThe Berkeley Student Food Collective (BSFC) is a collectively operated non-profit grocery market founded by students of the University of California, Berkeley near the Berkeley campus. The market aims to expand student access to as many organic, locally sourced, fair trade and whole foods as possible. It also aims to educate the community about the food system and its environmental, social and political impacts. It opened its doors in 2010, after having won a $91,000 grant from UC Berkeley's The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF). The collective serves a selection of produce, refrigerated and packaged goods, as well as a weekly subscription-style produce box that contains local, seasonal produce. The storefront is located across the street from the university, on Bancroft Way.
In 2009, the national fast food chain Panda Express attempted to open a restaurant on Lower Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus, an area run by the ASUC student government. Students were angered that a business they considered to be unhealthy, unsustainable and unrepresentative of their community was coming to their space and began a campaign to prevent its opening. A petition against Panda Express gathered 1,300 signatures, and students held demonstrations at ASUC Store Operations Board planning meetings.
This movement inspired students to create their own business that represented their interests and provided better food options for the campus community. The Berkeley Student Food Collective began as a student group and worked towards opening a grocery storefront, which opened on November 15, 2010. The cooperative was the inspiration for the Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive (CoFED), an organization helping students form sustainable food businesses on college campuses.
The student food collective has a physical store on Bancroft Way, near the UC Berkeley campus. The store offers a variety of food and other items that are healthy and/or sustainable options. They have fresh produce every day including vegetables like chard, broccoli, kale, lettuce, carrots, and parsley and fruits like apples, oranges, grapefruit, tomatoes, lemons, tangerines, and pumpkins. The student workers prepare fresh foods including smoothies, vegan sandwiches, pastas, and salads. The collective also offers prepackaged lunch items like tofu burgers, wraps, and bento boxes. There are a wide variety of snacks like granolas, nuts, dried fruits, coffee beans, chocolate covered raisins, yogurt covered pretzels, and chia chunks. They also offer drinks like coffee, kombucha, and tea as well as pastries. In addition to all the food items, the collective also sells soap, shampoo, lip balm, cleaning products, reusable bags, and water bottles. The physical store is open from Monday to Sunday, with shorter operating hours on Saturday and Sunday. The collective also offers bulk ordering of items normally offered in-store.
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