Cal Spaces Transformed
Uc Berkeley has over 30 acres of unused, open and free spaces.
The university has over 20 acres of farmable land known as the Gill Tract, in addition to many open and green spaces on campus. Right now, December 2014, only the Student Organic Garden Association (SOGA), and 34 acres of botanical gardens are dedicated to supporting education about sustainable agriculture practices and fostering love of community. SOGA offers hand on skills training in the Spring semester to students through DeCals along with year-round weekend workshops available to the public. The Botanical Gardens, houses 12,000 different kinds of plants from all over the world, offering internships and work-study opportunities, as well as a variety of plants in close proximity for academic needs. The argument most posed to implementation the implementation of Urban agriculture on campus is that the UC system already has a school based in agriculture, UC Davis. However, UC Davis practices are focused on big agriculture, as is appropriate for its setting. However, Uc Berkeley would be perfect for an Urban Agriculture program. There are a few steps that are in the process of being implemented already. The first is with the retention of the Gill Tract for community based farming. The second work in progress is a food minor. The third action is also a student based initiative working directly with students to create interactive green spaces though a DeCal.
The open/green spaces are many but to name a few:
Botanical Garden Chancellor's Esplanade Crescent / Springer Gateway Edwards Track Stadium / Goldman Field Eucalyptus Grove Evans Diamond Faculty Glade Goldman Field Grinnell Natural Area Hearst Mining Circle |
According to Miguel Altieri, Professor of Agroecology at UC Berkeley, in reference to a study done by grad students Nathan McClintock and Jenny Cooper, the 1,200 acres of empty lots in Oakland could potentially produce 12,320 tons of food, or 13.2 percent of the annual vegetable needs of the city. With the amount of land available on campus, it seems completely feasible to sustain an entirely local source of vegetables and fruit to UC Berkeley Campus. Not to mention, our unique Mediterranean climate is ideal for agriculture. Here are some of the organizations working with implementing this.
Gill Tract Movement lead by Occupy the Farm
|
The groups on campus supporting these actions are many of the Larger Campus Restoration Associated Groups
GETH
SOGA Strawberry Creek Restoration Society for Conservation Biology SERC ASUC Greening of the Greeks BSFC Foresters ESSA SAF FFC SEAL |
Online Resources:
http://www.foodfirst.org/en/blog http://viacampesina.org/en/ worldpoultry.net beefmagazine.com biofuelsdigest.com cornandsoybeandigest.com garynabhan.com http://bittman.blogs.nytimes.com/ michaelpollan.com http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs http://rodaleinstitute.org/ http://calclimateag.org/ |
Readings that might interest you:
Altieri, Miguel A., Deborah K. Letourneau, and James R. Davis. "Developing Sustainable Agroecosystems." BioScience 33.1 (1983): 45. Web. Altieri, Sustainable Agroecological System Designs Vereijken, P Marcel Mazoyer and Laurence Roudart. 2006. A History of World Agriculture, pp. 9-16, 52-70. Alfred Crosby. 2004. Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe 900-1900, New Edition, pp. 2-7. John Bellamy Foster and Fred Magdoff. 2000. Liebig, Marx, and the Depletion of Soil Fertility: Relevance for Today’s Agriculture. From Ecology Against Capitalism, pp. 154-169. Judith Carney. 2001. Black Rice, pp. 1-8. Richard Walker. 2004. The Conquest of Bread: 150 Years of Agribusiness in California, pp. 66-75. Jianguo Liu et al. 2003. Effects of household dynamics on resource consumption and biodiversity. Nature 421: 530-533. Karl Marx. 1867. Capital, vol. 1, ch. 15, section 10: “Large-scale industry and agriculture”; ch. 25, sections 3 and 4: “The Progressive production of a relative surplus population or industrial reserve army” and “Different forms of existence of the relative surplus population. The general law of capitalist accumulation.” |