The UC Global Food Initiative uses university conducted research and operations to nutritiously and sustainably feed the world's population by 2025.
The UC Global Food Initiative was launched in 2014 by UC President, Janet Napolitano, with the vision of sustainably and nutritiously feeding the world's population by 2025. UC GFI aims to make the UC system a pioneer in improving food security, health, and sustainability. In order to achieve success, the initiative identifies the best and most sustainable practices that can be applied worldwide using UC research to improve local and global food systems, as well as driving and implementing food policy discussions.
UC GFI consists of 23 working groups on all 10 campuses across 5 topic areas including: production, sourcing, education and communication, policy and public impact, and access and security.
Check this page to stay updated on how UCSD is working to achieve the goals of the UC Global Food Initiative, which physical and financial resources are available, different food-related events on campus, and how you can get involved!
Meet the 2017-18 Global Food Initiative Fellows:
+Tricia Dutton, Ambassador
The GFI Student Ambassador role formed in response to a desire for increased student engagement in the Global Food Initiative both systemwide and at the campus level. At each of the 10 UC campuses, the Student Ambassador Fellow serves as the GFI student engagement go-to person for their campus.
Ambassador Fellows will be invited to participate in leadership meetings of the UC Global Food Initiative where they will share their student voice, report out on student engagement activities, and connect with GFI working group leaders across the system.
+Kara Kirkpatrick, Soilless Urban Agriculture Project
Kara will build on her successful efforts working with private industry partners to determine the most efficient 21st century growing techniques for soilless urban agriculture. Kara is a project leader doing experimental hydroponic food growing in Roger’s Community Garden located on the UC San Diego campus. Her investigation is comparing water usage in a system that is growing edible plants in a traditional garden plot versus water usage in an alternative hydroponic system growing similar plants. Her tasks will include guided tours of Rogers Community Garden for students and volunteers, and logistical support for the design and creation of signage for that space and similar spaces off campus–in particular the Ocean View Growing Grounds, a community garden and food forest in Southeast San Diego. Her effort will draw attention to the importance of bidirectional education and learning in public-private sector partnerships, social entrepreneurship and innovation.
+Belinda Ramirez, Improving Urban Farming Project
Belinda’s effort as a UC GFI fellow will bring a critically constructive anthropological perspective into understanding and improving urban gardening and farming in diverse, disadvantaged communities of Southern California. In particular, Belinda will examine community gardens and food forests as unique spaces where knowledge is produced, learned and shared. She will play an active role in UC San Diego’s GFI project titled: Getting Neighborhoods EQUIPPED (Engaged thru Quality University-Community Infrastructure for Participatory-Research and Popular EDucation). Belinda will use her ethnographic, linguistic and cultural skills to help carry out, evaluate and improve the Getting Neighborhoods EQUIPPED project –a place-based project designed to improve food literacy & security especially among Hispanic and African-American residents. This effort aims to enhance the role of research universities and science in public reasoning and interventions aimed at eradicating root causes of food insecurity and unhealthy living conditions in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
+Fatima Alcantara-Valadao, Edible Plant Sampling and Analysis Program
Fatima will serve as a student leader of an Edible Plant Sampling and Analysis Program–a collaborative effort of UC San Diego’s UC GFI and Superfund Research Center. Testing edible plants for toxicants on and off campus addresses public concerns about health where people are growing fruits and vegetables on land that may be contaminated. Fatima will continue work she already has underway: collecting samples from gardens across campus and San Diego including the Ocean View Growing Grounds (an urban garden located in a food desert in Southeast San Diego). Her tasks include weekly upkeep of the soil lab/plant tissue greenhouse located at Roger's Community Garden on campus. The Edible Plant Sampling and Analysis Program aims to improve the safety and health of gardeners, and in the process, promote community gardening as a way of increasing the consumption of nutritious, locally-grown foods. Fatima will help build teaching and learning modules for UC GFI and San Diego’s Bioregional Center that highlight the importance of this work.
Sustainably and nutritiously feed the world by 2025.
