Takeover at Gill Tract in Albany Continues, UC Shuts Off Water

UC Berkeley officials said today, Monday, the occupiers of the Gill Tract agricultural research plot in Albany are acting illegally and that the campus will work to end the take-over "safely and effectively."

The campus shut off water to the UC-owned plot today.

A group of activisits  to plant an urban farm. The take-over involved 200 members of Occupy the Farm, or Take Back the Gill Tract, who broke a lock on a gate, and began planting seedlings of various food crops, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

By this afternoon today, more than an acre of land had been weeded, rototilled and planted. About 60 people were at the site shortly before 6 p.m. today, some still clearing the stand of mustard, some playing music, some talking to visitors near their make-shift information table and some relaxing in warm late-day sun at the plot southwest of San Pablo and Marin avenues. 

Dan Mogulof, executive director of the university's Office of Public Relations shared this statement, which has been modified slightly. (We also added links to Albany Patch coverage of related to the story.):

The parcel of land currently occupied by the protesters is not slated for commercial development. Rather, the 15-acre Gill Tract is currently being used for  that will be impeded if the occupation continues.

In addition, one of our faculty members grows produce on the same land that is distributed to the needy. That too will be threatened if the occupation persists or a failure to maintain sanitary conditions contaminates the soil.  

We intend to reach out to those involved, convey the actual facts and discuss next steps. 

There is  for another portion of the land in the general area. That project  from the Albany City Council and planning commission.

The 2004 master plan for the entire area is available here.

The protesters are in violation of campus policy and state law. If the occupation continues, those policies and laws will be enforced when we determine it can be done safely and effectively. We do not want anything to impede the research.

Mogulof said his main concern, from a public health perspective, is that the Occupy site at the Gill Tract includes open latrines, which could pose a problem for crops grown on the land. 

He said UC researchers usually plant their crops at the end of the rainy season. Planting is slated to take place in the next few weeks. 

Mogulof noted that the last two occupations on the UC Berkeley campus ended "completely peacefully," and that the university has "every intention" of finding a peaceful solution to the Gill Tract activities. He confirmed that the campus shut the water off.

The occupiers said they're making plans to cultivate parts of the 15-acre lot for the long haul.

"This land, we feel, has been underutilized and doesn't stand to benefit the people in our community," said Lesley Haddock, 20, a media liaison for the group Take Back the Tract. "We want it to serve as a model for urban agriculture, in a time when people feel insecure about where their food comes from. We want to demonstrate we can sustain ourselves in a way that's healthy, genetically pure and longterm." 

Haddock, a current UC Berkeley undergraduate who's originally from Petaluma, described the group's plans and the layout of the site on Monday afternoon.

Entering the farm, visitors can see, on the right, an information table and library with related books, with a medic tent and food area on the left. Every night, the group plans to rebuild its encampment depending on where the day's farming took place.

"This is a sustainable community that provides for the people's needs as long as they're here," said Haddock. "It's a real community experience." 

Haddock said students, faculty and community members tried for 15 years to express their desires and dreams to the university for a community garden at the Gill Tract, but met with no success. 

"We're at the point of last resort," she said. "We were not getting anywhere through traditional discourse. The field's been lying fallow since winter, and we're going to cultivate it and make it a hub for urban agriculture and education. We're going to turn this land into something we as a people need."

Haddock said those involved with Take Back the Tract, also known as Occupy the Farm, were concerned about plans to pave over the Gill Tract for a parking lot and a Whole Foods market. 

Community Development Director Jeff Bond, with the city of Albany, said the current agricultural land that's being occupied is not part of the project area where the . The Whole Foods would be sited between Monroe Street and Village Creek, which is essentially at the tree line that makes up the current Gill Tract's southern border. 

In UC's Master Plan (2004), said Bond, the agricultural land that's now being farmed by activists is zoned only for recreation or open space. The  fields in , which are west of the senior housing and Whole Food project area, are guaranteed to be able to stay on their current location for at least 10 years if the deal goes through.

But the issue is somewhat muddied by the fact that the original Gill Tract land, 104 acres, has been divided and developed over time, leaving farm occupation organizers concerned about the future of the remaining open space. 

"The fact that it's been sectioned off," said Anya Kamenskaya, "history shows they've been eating away at it incrementally. We don't feel convinced the university is committed to keeping it for agricultural use." 

Kamenskaya said, even though the Whole Foods is not planned to be developed on the farm land, the group hopes to shut down the effort. 

Haddock said there wasn't necessarily a consensus among Take Back the Tract participants about whether they were against Whole Foods in general, beyond the Albany site. 

But she noted that the company, though better than some, still has a number of unsustainable practices that concerned her, including sourcing non-local food, and offering packaged and plastic-wrapped food.

Haddock said plans for Occupy the Farm began in late 2011, and that vegetable starts had been donated to the group from as far away as San Jose. Carrots, kale, broccoli and corn are among the crops being planted. 

Activists took down a  on Sunday, though tall fava bean stalks belonging to researcher Miguel Altieri remained standing. 

"For now, we're leaving them," said Haddock. "We haven't decided long-term what to do with them."

She said she'd been stunned Sunday to see hundreds of people working the fields, many of whom had no prior farming experience. About 300 people attended Sunday's event, with about 60 who slept overnight, she said. 

The group could use donations, she said, of supplies, money and a motorcycle engine "to turn into a generator to charge cell phones," as well as volunteers to help with farming.

Haddock said the group had been speaking with numerous Albany residents who'd come over to check out the site or help farm, and that one of the group's goals is to get a better understanding of what city residents want to see at the site. 

Tuesday night, the Planning & Zoning commission will discuss the development agreement related to the Whole Foods and senior housing project, and Haddock said there would likely be people there to speak on behalf of the occupation. 

For now, however, the focus is on the farm.

"For the next few days, we're expanding," she said. "Soon, all of this will be farmland."

The city of Albany also released a statement, at 1:30 p.m. today: "The City of Albany is aware of the situation on the University of California property in Albany known as the Gill Tract. City officials are keeping open the lines of communication with University representatives as UC handles its response. The City asks for a peaceful resolution as detailed in the statement made by the University dated April 23, 2012."