Kerfuffles

Occupy the Farm Protest in East Bay Isn’t Going Anywhere

No overalls for these farmers!
No overalls for these farmers!

On Earth Day on Sunday, a group of about 200 people who had organized under the moniker Occupy the Farm descended on the Gill Tract in Albany, tilling long untouched soil and planting corn, broccoli, and carrot seedlings. The action was the result of months of planning, as ABC 7 reports, and the land in question is a 10-acre piece of UC Berkeley property that’s been the subject of a kerfuffle with preservationists for over a decade. And check out the kid in the skinny jeans wrestling with that rototiller!

Activists have wanted the land to remain “pristine” and to be used for an urban farm or similar use for years, but it is set to become Little League fields and open space connected to the adjacent University Village housing complex.

Sunday’s action continues into today, with a bunch of students and others having pitched tents and fully occupied the land, planting more and more vegetables. So far, no one has been arrested and police aren’t taking any action other than to tell the occupiers that what they’re doing is illegal. A number of neighbors, meanwhile, have come out to voice their support.

We just hope that kid in black didn’t hurt himself.


’Occupy the Farm’ Continues Demonstration [ABC 7]
Earlier: Occupiers Till Some Soil In East Bay, ‘Take Back’ UC Land For Farming

Occupy the Farm Protest in East Bay Isn’t Going Anywhere