Farmers Occupy Proposed Development Site with Homegrown Farm Stand

by Occupy the Farm

Sun, Apr 26, 2015 6:46PM

On April 25th, over 400 people joined the Permaculture Action Day hosted by the UC Gill Tract Community Farm. Bay area residents and UC students from across the state participated in an exciting day of farming, workshops and music. Shortly before 5pm, Occupy the Farm, joined by community farmers, students and the East Bay permaculture community, marched down San Pablo Ave to the south side of the Gill Tract. Together, the crowd, in an act of civil disobedience, built a farm stand on the site of the proposed union-busting corporate supermarket, Sprouts “Farmers Market.” The private development would pave over 5-6 acres of the historic Gill Tract Farm.

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Following Saturday night’s occupation of the Gill Tract’s south side, a piece of urban farmland slated to become a chain supermarket, celebrations continue today on both sides of the farm. Music, performances, storytelling, and an outdoor screening of INHABIT lasted into the night, as farmers and neighbors pitched tents to occupy the threatened land.

The celebrations continued Sunday 4/26. From 10-2, the South Side Farmers Market hosted local queer farmers and farmers of color, a local soup maker, as well as workshops and music throughout the day.

Meanwhile, on the north side, the UC Gill Tract community farm celebrated the community farm’s one-year birthday party. Highlights included planting in the children’s garden, otherwise known as the Ladybug Peace and Justice Patch.

Finally, UC Berkeley’s Students for Engaged and Active Learning (SEAL) called for an Inter-UC gathering, including a panel on scholar-activism.

For more information: http://occupythefarm.org

§A real farmers' market farm stand

by Occupy the Farm

Sun, Apr 26, 2015 6:46PM