Community Corner
UC Berkeley Wants Peaceful Resolution With Occupy the Farm Activists
UC Berkeley will reach out to the Occupy participants to resolve things peacefully, a university official said.
Officials from the University of California at Berkeley said they will work to find a peaceful resolution with activists who to plant an urban farm, says the university.
Anya Kamenskaya, who is involved with the Take Back the Tract activity, said Monday morning that the group has already planted more than one acre of the 15-acre site.
Gopal Dayaneni, a 43-year-old Oakland resident, said that protesters are planting vegetables such as Swiss chard, kale, lettuce, peas, beans and broccoli, according to the Bay City News.
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Dan Mogulof, executive director of the university's Office of Public Relations shared this statement, which has been modified slightly.
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.
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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.
