Students happily chatter as they stand at a set of fold out tables, lined with students all on one side and stacked with cardboard boxes of produce and canned goods. Behind them lie even more boxes of food — this week, its kale, cauliflower, cucumbers, whole chickens, and many dried and canned goods — and in front of them stand a short line of people waiting for free food.
The Academy of Medicine and Public Service’s (AMPS) bi-monthly food pantry takes place at Berkeley High School’s MLK Gate and provides free food to anyone that shows up, no matter who they are or what zipcode they’re from. Juniors and seniors in AMPS leave their sixth period classes early every other Wednesday to unpack a truckload of food, supplied by the Berkeley Food Network, and set it up so they’re ready to serve the community from 3:30 to 5:30.
This pantry is run as one of the internships that the Academy of Medicine and Public Service (AMPS) which upperclassmen are required to take. To fulfill the internship requirement, students attend cooking classes every other Wednesday when they’re not doing the pantry, to learn basic cooking skills and get a food handler certification, which can be useful for certain jobs and careers. The internship is two years, so it’s quite a time investment, but among students it is also seen as particularly valuable, given that it’s one of the few internships that’s paid.
“A lot of kids are eager because it's hard to get a job. This is a paid position. It's hard to get experience at such a young age that is like a two year job,” said Tasha Jackson, the AMPS co-teacher-leader and teacher of several AMPS classes, including nutrition of wellness, who helps organize the pantry. “I think that is why there's a high demand. And people just love being out in the community,” Jackson said.
The students say they tend to get a lot of repeat customers, so they see a lot of familiar faces. Since the food pantry has wide appeal, they also see a diverse mix of people showing up.
“We try to form relationships, we try to project ourselves nicer — but I feel like they're more focused on getting the food, because usually some of them don't speak English, so it's pretty hard to be able to form relationships as well if you don't speak that language,” Nathan Liu, a senior in AMPS in his second year of the internship, said. “But we try to be nicer so they can really recognize us and know that we're trustable.”
The food pantry gets its stock from the Berkeley Food Network, a city-wide organization that distributes food at no-cost to community members in need. It has several “mobile pantries” (part-time pantries) set up across the East Bay, in addition to one permanent pantry on Ninth Street in West Berkeley. According to Angelina Aciascrouse, a program associate at the Berkeley Food Network, the majority of the network’s food comes from the Alameda County Food Bank, which is partially funded directly by the county and partially funded by the federal government through the USDA.
In addition to BHS, the network also runs mobile pantries at Albany High School, the South Berkeley Senior Center, and more. The network feeds 6,500 community members weekly.
“I think it's really amazing. We get a lot of really good produce and stuff like that. And I think it's really important for, especially low income families, to have access to those resources and healthy foods,”Audrey Alcala, a senior in AMPS also in her second year of the internship, said. “I think that's a really important part of it, just having that equity for the community.”
It’s been proven that a well-balanced, healthy diet helps not only in keeping you healthy, but also in cognitive function and academic performance. As food prices rise, it’s important to ensure that everyone has equal access to nutritious foods.
“If you go grocery shopping you can feel the impact of inflation and the rising cost of food. So they get to have a trusted safe space where they're going to get healthy food, access to food,” Jackson said, “I mean, these are essentials. You're getting bread, eggs, dairy, vegetables, and they can have that reliability.”
In addition to the reliability and helpfulness of the pantry for the community members receiving food, it also benefits the students distributing it. Students learn valuable lessons and people skills, acquire work experience, and get paid. Some even see something personal in the work.
“I actually wanted to join this internship because when I was walking past it the first time I’d seen it, (and) like, seeing the elderly Chinese ladies lining up for the food, and they kind of struggled to actually communicate to the workers about what they actually wanted,” Lincoln Seid, an AMPS senior in the internship, said. “It reminded me of my own mother and how she struggled to communicate in English. And I, at that moment, kind of realized that I can actually bridge this gap and make a meaningful difference, because I can speak Chinese to them and help translate.”
As far as getting paid goes, several grants have covered payments for students in the past, but this year it’s changed. Now it is covered by California’s Strong Workforce Program through the Strong Workforce Grant, which funds Career and Technical Education at BHS in general.
“It's really about helping, helping create a pathway into future careers and giving students valuable experiences now that will serve them in whatever career they choose,” said Benjamin Goff, the program supervisor for Garden and Cooking in Berkeley Unified School District, affectionately known by his students as Farmer Ben. “And that's where the food safety certification comes in.”
The food certification is part of the bi-monthly cooking classes also involved in the internship. The cooking aspect is also seen as a valuable part of the program, as it teaches students basic skills and potentially equips them for a future career. Additionally, according to Seid, the strawberry shortcake they made recently was “absolutely, absolutely amazing.”
“I actually learned more about myself, like I actually enjoy cooking for people that I know, and like even bringing those skills back to my house,” Seid said, “I love to use those skills to teach my own family how to do certain things and how to cook certain things the right way. Unlike their traditional methods, I bring a new perspective to them.”
Goff added that students learn how to operate a kitchen, about cooking for a community and themselves, about nutrition, about food systems, and about food justice.
At the same time, however, it’s not all about food — Goff, or “Farmer Ben,” a BUSD employee for 25 years, believes it’s very important to make sure students have a reliable community at school, and tries to provide that with the members of his internship.
“My perspective is that everybody that works for the school district is in certain service of the students. It's all about the student experience,” Goff said. “Having a point of connection and a trusted adult at your school site is something that I feel helps students engage with school and feel like it's not only a safe space, but it's also a place where they feel seen and heard and that they can have a place where they can really get some useful information from.”
The students are left feeling fulfilled by the pantry, especially by the idea that it is meeting a need in the community and giving people hope.
One future goal of the AMPS food pantry is to expand outreach to more BHS students and families. The pantry currently has no regular customers that are BHS students, and it is working on brainstorming ways that they can make the pantry’s food more readily available to the school community. Last year, for example, the internship students would pack boxes of food every week for a few specific students that had requested them. Although, Goff has also occasionally seen BHS teachers and staff stop by the stand as well.
“I would like to encourage as many families at Berkeley High to come and participate in the pantry. They're welcome to do so,” said Goff, “I don't want anybody to feel like they can't take advantage of the opportunity for fear of being ridiculed or seen a certain way.”
The AMPS food pantry will continue as a steadfast stand, staffed by determined students, serving the Berkeley community, and benefiting city residents and students alike. Dedicated interns will leave their sixth periods early every other Wednesday, to give away free produce, canned and dry goods, and meat items at the MLK gate from 3:30 to 5:30pm. The food pantry serves as both a service and a way to bring the community together.
“My personal philosophy (is that) food is the common denominator. Everybody's got to eat. Food is a great way to bring people together,” Goff said, “It's an essential. It's an essential part of staying alive as a human.”