NOTE: As of January 1, 2010 People’s Grocery ended its farming efforts at the Sunol Agricultural Park. We decided to stop farming in Sunol so that People’s Grocery could pursue new opportunities in Oakland that have emerged since we began farming in Sunol in 2006. These new opportunities will enable People’s Grocery to have a stronger presence in West Oakland and to engage West Oakland residents more deeply in our urban agricultural work.
While farming in Sunol was a critical step in building our experience and capacity to grow healthy produce, the farm was too far away from Oakland to be able to regularly engage local residents in our work as volunteers and participants in larger numbers. Additionally, People’s Grocery’s long term goal in urban agriculture is to build local capacity within or near West Oakland for fresh food production. We now have the opportunity to focus more locally and build on the experience and track record we got while farming in Sunol to achieve this goal.
People’s Grocery is very appreciative to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and SAGE for providing us with the opportunity to be a part of the Sunol Agriculture Park. These two agencies brought lots of vision to what the Sunol Agriculture Park could become and worked hard to make it a reality. Without a doubt, People’s Grocery couldn’t have had a farm without the support and partnership of the SFPUC and SAGE. We also want to thank the farmer partners at the Sunol Agriculture Park: Baia Nicchia, Iu-Mien Village Farms and Terra Bella Family Farm. We had a blast working and collaborating with all of these groups and wish them all great success in their continued endeavors.
People’s Grocery is now in the process of developing two new urban farm sites in West Oakland. The first is at the historic California Hotel, where we have formed an agreement with the Eviction Defense Center to establish a greenhouse and community garden and to outreach to the residents of the California Hotel. Click here to read more about the California Hotel and our efforts to turn it into a model site in West Oakland.
The second site we are working on is on the corner of Filbert St. and 30th St. in West Oakland. It is a 1/3 acre property that has tremendous potential to become an urban farm and training center. People’s Grocery is working with the owner of the property, the Northern California Community Loan Fund (NCCLF), to develop site plans, secure a conditional use permit and establish a lease with NCCLF. We are grateful to NCCLF for presenting this opportunity to People’s Grocery and providing us with funding in support of the planning and development of the site.
With the changing of the year from 2009 to 2010 come many changes for People’s Grocery (read about our new Executive Director who begins on January 11). Moving our agricultural efforts from Sunol to Oakland is a significant change. But it is only through change that new possibilities can emerge. We’re excited about the possibilities that are on People’s Grocery’s horizon as we move into 2010.
People's Grocery is a proud member of the Sunol Ag Park, a beautiful 17 acre farm located 30 minutes outside of Oakland in Southern Alameda County. We farm on 3.5 acres of this land sandwhiched between our gourmet tomato breeding friends at Baia Nichia and our sister organization serving East Oakland, the Hmien Farming Collaborative @EBAYC. The Sunol Ag Park is made possible by the work of SAGE.
So why Sunol you may ask? There are a few reasons for PG to farm out in Sunol. First off it is hard to access large tracts of land in West Oakland in order to grow food on this magnitude for our 50 member low-incomefood distribution program "People's Grub Box." Secondly it is hard to find large tracts of soil not contaminated with heavy metals such as lead, tied to the industrial nature of a community surrounded by 4 highways and a port. Finally, Sunol offers a much warmer climate to Oakland allowing us to grow Okra, Peppers, Melons, and much more during the summer!
FARMING @SUNOL
We use the old school technique of hand cultivation at the People's Grocery Farm. What that mean is we rely on PEOPLE POWER. We weed, transpant, and harvest by hand. We use a large variety of nifty tools to avoid mechanical traction, such as the Glaser Wheel Hoe to weed beds at ease. We also subscribe to a bio-intensive model, planting crops closer together in a triangular pattern in order to optimize land use.
If you would like to see what we are planting, click the purple "Blogs" button in to the right.
VOLUNTEER
Can you dedicate a day to food justice? We carpool from our office in West Oakland out to Sunol 4 days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday). We ask volunteers carpooling with us to dedicate an 8 hour to People's Grocery. Mondays and Thursdays are harvest days for our produce distribution program "The Grub Box", so we leave a lit bit earlier in the morning.
For groups please contact our farm manager Brent Walker at 510-418-5270
For individual volunteers please RSVP with marcelo@peoplesgrocery.org. Last minute RSVP, call our farm manager Brent at 510-418-5270
Please contact marcelo@peoplesgrocery.org to arrange to come out and lend a hand out the farm. Please contact us before coming out!
Don't know where Sunol is, check out the map.
URBAN AGRICULTURE INTERNSHIPS
If you would like more information about an internship with the Urban Program please contact marcelo@peoplesgrocery.org.
