Community Corner
Activists Occupy UC Berkeley Farmland That's Up for Development
A group knows as Occupy the Farm took over Gill Tract, at San Pablo and Marin Sunday. They plan to stay overnight, group members said.
-With contribution from Bay City News
A group of activists says it has taken over a tract of University of California at Berkeley-owned land. They plan to plant seedlings and convert the land to agricultural use.
The group, Occupy the Farm, took over the property known as the Gill Tract, at San Pablo and Marin Avenues on Sunday afternoon. They planned to stay overnight, group members said.
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Activists described the property as "the last remaining 10 acres of Class I agricultural soil in the urbanized East Bay," and noted that the university plans to sell the property for a retail development.
Occupy the Farm is a coalition of local residents, farmers, students, researchers, and activists who are planting over 15,000 seedlings at the Gill Tract, according to Indy Bay.
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"For ten years," according to Indy Bay, "people in Albany have tried to turn the Gill Tract into an Urban Farm."
University officials and Albany police have not yet responded to calls seeking comment.
Here's some recent (albeit shaky) YouTube video of what the scene is like at Occupythefarm.
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