Berkeley Students Need Affordable Groceries — Not Another Failed Bar!
UC Berkeley Student Union Board of Directors
Students deserve an affordable and healthy campus grocery store — not another failed bar. The Student Union Board must vote to fill the Bear's Lair with a student grocery store!
This March, the ASUC Student Union Board can vote to provide a desperately needed campus resource in the vacant Bear's Lair space in Lower Sproul: a full-service, student-governed, student-run grocery store. We believe the Berkeley Student Food Collective, the 15-year-old student-run nonprofit grocery store, currently located on Bancroft Way, would greatly serve students in the larger space. However, the former Bear’s Lair Bar in Lower Sproul has hosted four consecutive failed bar-restaurants — and the Board is now considering voting to install yet another business that doesn't address the food desert on campus and on Southside.
We represent some of the thousands of students who use EBT/CalFresh, lack easy transportation to another grocery store, or just want more convenient cheap grocery options in a food desert. The Food Collective serves some of the most food-insecure members of our campus. Open to everyone to shop, we offer FreshCreds — which effectively reduces the cost of produce by 50% for EBT/CalFresh users — and have been listed as Outstanding Community Partners by the Basic Needs Center for four consecutive years for our partnership. Over 250 weekly student volunteers (and growing!) are involved in operating and democratically governing the Collective each year. And we work with upwards of 50 independent local vendors and farmers from across the Bay to prioritize the best producers left out of traditional markets.
But the Student Union Board, which is made up of elected students and faculty/staff, against the whims of the ASUC Senate, has rejected our proposal five times over the last fifteen years.
We, the students who wish to see the student grocery that our campus deserves, urge the Board to approve the most thorough, comprehensive, vetted, financially-sound, and morally urgent vision for the space: a full-service, student-run grocery.
You can review our formal motion here, our slide deck here, and our formal proposal here.
Petition by
To:
UC Berkeley Student Union Board of Directors
From:
[Your Name]
The Student Union Board can vote to provide a desperately needed campus resource: space for a full-service, student-governed, student-run grocery store. We represent some of the thousands of students who use EBT/CalFresh, lack easy transportation to another grocery store, or just want to eat healthier. We believe the Berkeley Student Food Collective, the 12-year-old student-run nonprofit grocery store, would be a much-needed and financially-sound candidate to thrive in the larger space — not another upscale dining concept. Please vote for the student grocery our campus deserves in the Bear's Lair space.