For the UC Gill Tract Community Farm, harvesting crops means more than eagerly pulling blackberries from bushes or snacking on tomatoes in the garden—it means allocating produce to those in need as part of their food justice mission. On Saturday, October 24th, the Gill Tract partnered with the Berkeley Student Food Collective, UC Berkeley Food Institute, The Berkeley Food Pantry, The Student Organic Garden Association, Cal Dining, and ASUC senator Wes Adrianson’s office to host an event that combined harvesting food for the UC Berkeley Food Pantry and discussing local and global issues related to food.
The UC Gill Tract Community Farm is surrounded by both the heavy traffic of San Pablo and Marin Avenues and netting to protect from wild turkeys. These features show that the farm serves both humans and wildlife within in a densely populated urban setting. The farm works to provide the surrounding area in Albany with a source of fresh, sustainably grown produce as well as a gathering space to come together as a community. The farm also works with the university and serves as an example of organic urban farming and its connection to food justice.
During last Saturday’s event, Vanessa and John, both affiliated with the UC Gill Tract Community Farm, led twenty students and community members in moving mulch, planting winter seedlings, pruning, and harvesting food. The morning began with stretches and an introduction to food justice, which refers to access to healthy food, health of people producing food, and other issues of fairness within the food system. Participants passed a “sharing gourd” to discuss their own definitions of justice and food as it relates to culture.
Then the work started—people wove through vegetable rows and netting, leaning to pick tomatoes near the ground, pushing heavy wheelbarrows of mulch, and kneeling down to plant seedlings. During a lunch break and discussion of global and local food justice, participants shared their work with food justice in their communities. Although the farm’s ambition is local, it is part of an expanding network of organizations working to provide physically and environmentally healthier alternatives for certain commonly available foods. The farm expects more university participation in the future, with more events like Saturday’s Harvest Day to come.
photo by Daniel Arauz
Cover Photo: Patrick Feller
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