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Look around you. Look to your neighbor. These
are the people who are digging their hands

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into the dirt. And they're going to begin
to take the first step: independence from

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a corporate industrial food system. Take the
first step towards community-based regional

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food system that focuses on the health of
our bodies, the health of the planet, the

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health of the soil, and respects the farmers
and the food for the precious gift that it

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is. This is not a new idea. This is where
we were in 1943, right? San Francisco had

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one of the best victory garden programs in
the country. We had hundreds of urban productive

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gardens like this throughout the city. That's
how you start to solve the food crisis; by

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digging in.

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If food isn't brought to the forefront,
the people are going to bring it to the forefront

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because people are asking questions. They're
getting involved in organizations. And you

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get those little bubbles in the water, a few
minutes later the water is boiling over. The

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bubbles are in the water.

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I got involved because I saw the immediate
needs of people who hungry.

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The people here in this country are already
seeing that the system the way it is, is not

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working. What are you going to do as an alternative?
There are other models out there -- ways

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in which we are going to make our systems
more socially just, more economically viable,

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more environmentally sound and more important
than anything, more resilient.

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You could compare it to if you're painting
or trying to mix colors to get a certain new

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color. I think we're trying to get a more
intense color for the good food movement right

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now. And by linking up all the different people,
it's giving us more colors to work with.

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Richer colors. And I think more power in the
system.

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It's a challenge for everybody to look deeper
and see that the issues are really complicated.

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They're not black and white. And we need
to look at every element as it is now. And

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really look forward and see, well where do
we want to get to and how can we get there?

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Every neighborhood would have a corner store
that sold fresh, healthy, affordable, local

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food. And those stores would be owned by the
people who live in the neighborhood.

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We need to look at putting new community institutions
into place that are part of the solution rather

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than part of the problem. All we can do is
change course. Right where we are, stop and

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shift and do things differently

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We were put on this earth to eat. That's
it. And we just added all this. Whoever created

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this said ok, let me, let me put some happy
people on this planet and giv'em some good

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food to eat and let'em go.

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It seems to me that people get it when I put
it this way. The twenty-two year old has lived

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through 54% of all the oil ever burned. The
ten-year old has lived through a quarter.

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Now that points out the speed that this is
coming on.

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The solution then was bring more fossil fuel
to bear on agriculture. Step up production.

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More monoculture. more pesticide to support
the monoculture, more chemical fertilizer

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to support the monoculture. Drive down the
price of food. And it worked. We have been

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eating oil for thirty years, forty years.
When we began industrializing agriculture

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we were taking labor out of the farm and replacing
it with fossil fuel and technology. Most of

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the big innovations in agriculture were fossil
fuel products. And they were very much the

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products of World War II. We took the munitions
-- ammonium nitrate fertilizer is bomb fuel

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-- and we converted that to fertilizer. The
same factories that were making bombs one

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day and nerve gases, which became our pesticides.
What those technologies allow you to do is

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monocultures -- very large fields of the
same thing. Moving from diversity to this

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monoculture allowed you to greatly increase
production. Monocultures are also supremely

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vulnerable to pests. So you can't have a
monoculture without pesticides to defend them.

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And this has been our policy. We have rewarded
farmers for planting monocultures. If you

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are a corn farmer, we'll give you money
to grow corn and soy. But if you want to put

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in a row of broccoli, that land is permanently
ineligible for subsidies. It is illegal for

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you to diversify your farm.

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For the past maybe fifty, sixty years our
society has viewed food very much as a commodity.

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And it's been mostly valued in terms of
the economics of it. And it's also seen

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as fuel for our bodies that we have to gas
up and then we can go a few more hours and

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we have gas up again. Eat so that you can
do the thing that you are supposed to do;

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you can be productive. There is something
really, really missing. There is this hole

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where the hearth should be in our society.
And yet in our society we somehow think that

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this fuel can come in like a little paper
bag out of a window in a drive-through. And

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we can gobble it up and then we can move on.
It's not just destroying our health, that

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kind of fast-food culture. I think it creates
unhappiness and stress and you start looking

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for what's that thing that going to make
me feel better? You're this prime target

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for advertisers to say, "oh, here's what's
missing!" I really just think our bodies

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are just chronically deprived of the nutrients
that they need.

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The food system is slowly poisoning all of
us. It's almost like a silent, self-administered

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genocide for the population. And we don't
notice. If we just ate real food most of the

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time, we'd probably be a whole lot healthier.
But then you have to figure out, what's

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"real" food? And what's "real" food
doesn't come from concentrated animal feeding

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operations and it doesn't come from the
big poultry companies.

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I think people have to realize that we are
in a deep crisis here in this country, not

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only economic, but ecological, and cultural
and social. And food. There is a food crisis

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here in terms of the quality of the food.
There is a problem of obesity so there are

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a lot of people that are eating too much and
there's a lot of people that are eating

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very little. The problem is that the crisis
is hidden by all the subsidies, the bailouts,

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and the printing of money that is coming out.
It's hiding the crisis -- postponing it.

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So people don't feel it like the people
in developing countries feel it. When you're

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poor, you're poor down there. Nobody is
going to hide that poverty from you. Nobody

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is going to dump subsidies or bailouts or
anything like that.

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It is a dysfunctional food system for the
majorities, which works very well for a few

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corporations and works very poorly for the
majority of the people of the world. And is

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beginning to work worse and worse for the
people here in the United States.

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So the fact that we are up against it is actually
the most hopeful thing. Because there are

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short-term problems -- the price of oil,
water shortage. Problems that are much faster

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than the long-term problems of climate that
we are going to have to wrestle with. And

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we are fortunate that the solutions to the
short-term problems are solutions to the long-term

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problems.

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This is a lot easier of a problem because
7 times 2 X is just X minus 6. So I would

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like for us to talk about Chapter 12, but
also I know you guys have been behaving better

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than I've ever seen you behave so I will
share the bunnies with you guys.

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Yay!

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So I only have 5 bunnies so that means every
other person.

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Can I get one fifth of all these bunnies?

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Well, not in this form.

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Aw. Haha. Yay!

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I grew up different, but I think that made
me question the world because I think that

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when people approach me they see me as someone
who can't do something or having limits

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that are their projection. I often break people's
perceptions of what they think can be done

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with just a few fingers.

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Get the gloves. You want the gloves? You don't
need no gloves?

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You got some hand sanitizer?

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Don't step on it. Walk on the side. Huh?

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You got some hand sanitizer?

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Yeah you can go to the bathroom and use the
soap in the bathroom. That's the hand sanitizer.

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[Laughs]

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Why do you think we are weeding? Why do we
have to get this grass out of here?

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So it won't kill the strawberries.

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Exactly. So the grass eats up nutrients that
the strawberries need to grow. Many hands

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make light work. Y'all heard that before?
Anybody?

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Nope. Never heard of it. Serious.

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You know what I'm talking about though right?

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Yeah.

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What I love about strawberries is you don't
have to plant them every year. You just plant

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them one time and they come back. They love
you. Hey what's with the language!?

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I love these peas. I used to hate these as
a kid. Then I started growing them and I developed

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a taste for them. I learned how to do this
in Mexico in a garden program. It was all

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organic. They liked organic because it cut
their costs down and raised their yields,

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which is the exact opposite of what you hear
here in the United States. Most of the farmers

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that I still work with today are organic farmers.
I don't think any of them are certified.

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It's much too expensive for them. They're
not interested in an export market anyways.

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They are interested in feeding their own people.
I think it's good to get your hands in the

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dirt.

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The vision is huge and to accomplish it is
huge. Baby carrots. Except we don't whittle

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ours down with a machine. Because we cannot
change the economic system as it is right

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now, we said, well let's try to take food
out of the economic system a little bit and

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go back to self-sufficiency as a concept.
The woman who I'm working for she just decided

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that she wanted to use her backyard to grow
vegetables. And so it turns out we can have

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enough to serve probably twenty people out
of this backyard.

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When I first got to Alemany it was basically
just five feet high in annual weeds. In those

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first eight months to ten months, Alemany
Farm was kind of a gorilla garden because

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we didn't have permission from the city,
who owned the land. I actually didn't know

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very much about farming at all. It was mostly
due to my friend Justin, who was also involved.

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He was basically teaching the rest of us,
who were all amateurs, how to do what we were

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doing. We just started going there and just
tried to figure out, ok how are we going to

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do this now?

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So right now we're going to go over to the
dining hall where people can come get served

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a meal. It's probably for some people it's
the only meal they are going to receive for

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today. I was hungry one day and I said, free
dining hall!? And I said ok let me go over

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there and look. So I ate that day and I said
well, how can I not just get served, but now

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I can serve. And you're going to always
deal with unless you create the paradigm shifts,

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the larger systems. Only thing that connects
everything -- you know food systems. Because

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everybody eats.

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I had sort of made a decision that I wasn't
going to have children. You kind of have these

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abstract ideas about population and the question
is, "is it ethical to add another person

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to the planet?" And also is it ethical to
offer this planet to this person that you

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care about so much. But then I got pregnant
and am now just completely in love with my

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baby. It gives you a different sense of urgency
about what you see going on around you. Everybody

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out there is somebody's baby. And we all
need these things. We all need good food to

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eat. We all need clean water to drink. We
all need clean air to breathe. These things

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aren't optional. They're really not optional.

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My greatest hope is that we'll actually
learn how to farm with nature. And now is

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the moment when that struggle over the future
is being understood. Food production is the

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most impactful human activity on the planet
earth probably. I mean in terms of landscape

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impact there is nothing like agriculture.
Because we have a generation of farmers who

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weren't taught those methodologies and that
frame of mind -- that we're going to work

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with nature - they were taught to basically
battle with nature. But we understand more

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now because humans are evolving. Our knowledge
is evolving. Our understanding of nature is

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so much greater now than it was even thirty
years ago. I think it's the greatest challenge

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that human's face now -- how to actually
produce food and not destroy the base upon

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which civilization exists, which is the natural
world.

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The Bay Area is my place. I grew up here.
So this is a place that is deeply written

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into my cells and into my soul. My grandfather,
he had a corner store and an apartment on

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top and he raised a family and made a living
and there is something very fundamental about

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that I think appeals to me. The more supermarket
chains and the more concentration there is

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in the food industry, the fewer opportunities
there are for people like my grandfather in

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today's world to do what he did. I think
that the way our international, industrial

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food system works is destroying local economies
not just in the flatlands of Oakland, but

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all around the world. If we can't fix things
in Oakland and we if can't fix things in

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the flatlands we have absolutely no business
trying to fix things anyplace else.

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Honestly I said to a group folks the other
day, we have to start thinking like squirrels

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about our food and the food system that we
have here in Oakland. Meaning that we should

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have little micro-distribution points in our
neighborhoods where there is always fresh

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food available. We should have like mad gardens
like this that are in their various stages

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of development growing food and giving food
to people and to educate people about food.

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As long as we are thinking about food and
it's part of our conversations in our communities,

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I think that over time those sources will
be there. People will think more wisely about

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how they treat the earth and how they interact
with people because all of that, it's all

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connected.

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A friend of mine calls my chickens "chicken
Prozac." She says they really soothe her

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when she looks at them and sees them scratching
in the soil. And I think that seeing happy

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animals and the thrill they get when I throw
them some snails that we find in the garden

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-- it's enjoyable to see them have a pleasurable
life. Chickens have basically been bred to

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be little egg bazookas that just shoot them
out. Poof. Poof. Poof. My great grandfather

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was born on a pig farm in these hills. He
raised a lot of livestock on small plots like

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this. My great grandfather fed the family
during the depression so they could survive

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during that harsh economic time, which we
may be on the precipice of right now. I hope

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not, but the world does seem kind of precarious.

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Because depression is coming. We ain't fooled.
And when it comes, city's that have not

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put infrastructure like that in are going
to see anarchy. You're going to have poor

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people who can't afford food and if they
could afford it, the shelves are going to

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be bare. This generation is not built for
a depression. So when that pressure hits,

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people react in all sorts of crazy ways.

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I think there is plenty over on that side.
Did you get the broccoli? Did you want to

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weed the broccoli?

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Sure!

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You want this out, right?

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Yeah the big radish. Here I'll show you
where the broccoli is. In about 2004 I was

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really intrigued by this notion of peak oil
and the fact that our food system and most

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00:19:00,849 --> 00:19:06,178
of our systems are based on cheap fossil fuel
energy. And I was really concerned with how

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I personally and my community were going to
respond to increasingly expensive foods. Clearly

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a lot of it was on this macro-level that I
felt like I had no control over -- the federal

201
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government, even our city governments -- things
that they could do. But really what I thought

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is my experience is working grassroots with
people and having people change their existence

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through direct action. And so what I felt
like was out of all of the issues -- transportation

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and energy and all these things -- that food
was something that people could really do.

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Alemany is an interesting place because to
one side is the neighborhood, The Excelsior,

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and to the other side is Vernal Heights, both
of which have long been working class. And

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then right at the bottom there is the low
income housing projects, situated of course

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right next to the freeway.

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It's just rough out here. It's real rough
out here. Sometimes people can't come in

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and out of their doors. Sometimes just to
live out here, to get along with people -- sometimes

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you have to blend in with the community. Even
though at times you don't want to. But you

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can get trapped.

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I was really focused on, ok I want to start
a food-growing project somewhere. And what

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I realized was that the space next to my Mom's
house was abandoned and didn't have anyone

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there and was a perfect location to do it.
We were trying to do organizing with the community

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to figure what were their needs, what did
they want to see there. And for the most part

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what we heard was jobs. It's not something
we as young, punk anarchists who were looking

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to grow food had an ability to offer.

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They want to work. And that's what would
help keep these kids in school, get good grades.

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They want to work.

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It took a little while until we started meeting
with people in the community and also got

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in contact with people in the rec and park
department. Eventually we got funding to have

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a youth program where kids from the community
were actually being trained in ecological

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horticulture, learning those different systems
of irrigation, how to plant, landscaping,

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and all that stuff and getting paid to do
so. We also do environmental education. And

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so there are school groups. People come out
from all parts of the city even sometimes

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people from outside the city who come out
and work a few hours doing whatever tasks

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need to be done. And then at the end of the
day we harvest all the produce that's available

229
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and distribute it to all the volunteers. We
also have a free CSA program. Twenty or so

230
00:21:56,950 --> 00:22:00,749
families get a bag of produce twice week.

231
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It's a farm in the city. We got a little
country in the city. You ain't even got

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to go down the highway. All you got to do
is walk up here in the farm in San Francisco.

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The garden projects that are going on in San
Francisco and all the major cities in the

234
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nation that are creating food for neighborhoods
are vitally important in terms of transforming

235
00:22:31,849 --> 00:22:38,849
the way people think about food, vitally important
in shaping consciousness.

236
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The only country where urban agriculture is
massive is Cuba 
where you have fifty thousand hectares of

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urban agriculture. That's about one hundred
thousand acres of where they produce about

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33% of the food that they eat in the major
cities. And this came about because of the

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crisis of Cuba.

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Cuba is a very interesting case because Cuba
allied itself with the Soviet Union and adopted

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00:23:16,230 --> 00:23:21,399
Soviet style agriculture, which is basically
industrial agriculture. It's very similar

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to U.S. agriculture. You know the large state
farms, which were all mechanized, used tremendous

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00:23:26,999 --> 00:23:32,440
amounts of fertilizer and pesticides, were
all monocrops. The basic industrial model.

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And that fell apart when the Soviet Union
fell. And Cuba had no more access to cheap

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petroleum.

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When you are confronted with a situation where
you don't have petroleum, no matter what

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you produce in the rural areas, you cannot
bring it into the urban areas. That was one

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of the big problems they were facing.

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Just as that "special period," it was
called, was taking off and Cuba was on the

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brink of starvation, they couldn't turn
to the west. They certainly couldn't turn

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to the United States because there was an
embargo. And so they turned to their old farmers,

252
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their peasant farmers. And they said, you've
got to feed us. Teach us again how to plow

253
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with oxen. Teach us again how to fertilize
with manure. Teach us again how you manage

254
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and cultivate the old seeds. And luckily Cuba
still had those farmers. The farmer-to-farmer

255
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movement sent some farmers from Mexico and
from Nicaragua over to Cuba and they put on

256
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some workshops. They had all kinds of demonstrations.
They taught about agricological approaches

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to food production, sustainable agriculture,
organic methods. And it exploded in Cuba.

258
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Across the country the farmer-to-farmer movement
grew to about one hundred and fifty thousand

259
00:25:02,628 --> 00:25:09,628
in the space of five years. It took twenty
years to grow that much in Central America.

260
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But in Cuba, right away.

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Which produces today on average about 16-20
kilos per square meter per year. That is a

262
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huge productivity that I haven't seen any
garden anywhere in the world that can have

263
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that level of productivity only with organic
methods and ecological horticultural methods.

264
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I think the Cuban example just tells us that
changes happen when you confront crisis -- a

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deep crisis.

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Oakland is divided by 580. We have the flatlands,
which is here. This is East Oakland all the

267
00:26:01,460 --> 00:26:08,460
way to West Oakland. 95% of all homicides
occur in this area. Obesity, diabetes, chronic

268
00:26:10,829 --> 00:26:13,158
illness, you name it.

269
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I would love to be able to do something on
this parking lot to start off. And to get

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the youth involved in the community so that
the city sees that this is a viable spot to

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do something. So what's the agenda here?

272
00:26:30,739 --> 00:26:36,739
Well the agenda is to bring some folks who
haven't seen the store before to see the

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00:26:36,739 --> 00:26:43,340
store. And then to talk about some ideas about
how this could be a fresh, healthy, affordable,

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local food store.

275
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I have a question. How long will the process
take to get this place running?

276
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We need the support of the people.

277
00:27:05,558 --> 00:27:10,628
They're putting pressure to demolish this
whole store. They haven't bought into the

278
00:27:10,628 --> 00:27:13,248
idea of a community run store yet.

279
00:27:13,249 --> 00:27:20,249
If the city wants to demolish this what's
going to happen to this place?

280
00:27:21,980 --> 00:27:28,980
They'll fence it off and they wait for a
developer who come in and build some housing.

281
00:27:30,128 --> 00:27:37,128
No I think it would be better to build a community
store here with organic produce.

282
00:27:37,368 --> 00:27:44,368
You need this store here, but the only problem
we're going to have is that we have to work

283
00:27:45,148 --> 00:27:51,678
out something with the food bank because the
food bank provides this neighborhood with

284
00:27:51,679 --> 00:27:57,379
food four times a week. Free food. And most
of the people in this neighborhood are Latino

285
00:27:57,378 --> 00:28:02,798
and they like organic food. I think they have
experience in the field, they know that all

286
00:28:02,798 --> 00:28:05,069
those little pesticides don't do your food
any good.

287
00:28:05,069 --> 00:28:11,229
Doesn't do your body any good either.

288
00:28:11,229 --> 00:28:17,149
In Oakland we have what some people call "food
deserts" and other people call "food apartheid"

289
00:28:17,148 --> 00:28:23,028
because you have huge areas -- neighborhoods,
complete neighborhoods -- which basically

290
00:28:23,028 --> 00:28:28,089
can't get good food. They can't get fresh
vegetables. They can't get whole grains.

291
00:28:28,089 --> 00:28:33,898
They can only get this cheap, processed, packaged
food, which is actually expensive. They've

292
00:28:33,898 --> 00:28:40,898
got to travel miles and miles to find a supermarket
and oftentimes those supermarkets don't

293
00:28:41,169 --> 00:28:45,210
have the best food either.

294
00:28:45,210 --> 00:28:51,308
We need to bring in healthy foods so that
we can start having choices and fight the

295
00:28:51,308 --> 00:28:58,308
health problems that have been going on. So
that that murder rate can go down.

296
00:28:59,538 --> 00:29:04,190
I grew up in a neighborhood like that. I can
remember at the age of 5, my friend Crystal,

297
00:29:04,190 --> 00:29:08,879
her father was a known drug dealer and his
brains got blown out when I was what, seven

298
00:29:08,878 --> 00:29:14,849
years old, in the middle of the street at
nine o'clock at night. My brother, who sold

299
00:29:14,849 --> 00:29:18,689
drugs with the neighborhood drug dealers down
the street and who eventually died from drug

300
00:29:18,690 --> 00:29:25,019
overdose, he learned all of this stuff from
these guys and ultimately he died from that.

301
00:29:25,019 --> 00:29:30,608
People who experience stuff like that, they
don't want to come back. I joined the Air

302
00:29:30,608 --> 00:29:36,858
Force. It was when I went to Kuwait in 2000
that I was able to understand the connections

303
00:29:36,858 --> 00:29:42,019
between the military industrial complex, what's
that's all about, and how it affects communities

304
00:29:42,019 --> 00:29:47,729
of color all around the world. The reason
why I came back is because I learned about

305
00:29:47,729 --> 00:29:54,169
all those connections. I wrote on the destruction
of 7th street in West Oakland. How BART, when

306
00:29:54,169 --> 00:29:58,179
building the overpass -- where the train
goes from West Oakland to San Francisco, that

307
00:29:58,179 --> 00:30:02,249
whole area -- how it destroyed those four
thousand black-owned businesses that were

308
00:30:02,249 --> 00:30:06,589
on that street. People were doing well there.
People owned land. People were making money.

309
00:30:06,589 --> 00:30:11,148
People were taking care of their families,
but when BART was built there it wiped out

310
00:30:11,148 --> 00:30:17,319
business for lots of people. It wiped out
whole communities. If I'm going to do this

311
00:30:17,319 --> 00:30:22,489
anywhere in the world I better start in my
own neighborhood. I better start where I grew

312
00:30:22,489 --> 00:30:28,950
up and that makes the most sense.
How we doing everybody?

313
00:30:28,950 --> 00:30:29,200
Alright.

314
00:30:28,950 --> 00:30:29,389
Everybody here?

315
00:30:29,388 --> 00:30:29,819
Yeah.

316
00:30:29,819 --> 00:30:32,249
Is everyone here right now?

317
00:30:32,249 --> 00:30:34,558
Yeah! We're here!

318
00:30:34,558 --> 00:30:41,558
Alright. My name is Jason Harvey. I am a long-time
resident of Oakland. I grew up at 9303 E street

319
00:30:42,118 --> 00:30:45,349
down in alphabet city. Folks know where that
is?

320
00:30:45,349 --> 00:30:46,618
Yeah. Sure do.

321
00:30:46,618 --> 00:30:51,259
Tonight is just a big overview of what the
Hope Collaborative is about, what we hope

322
00:30:51,259 --> 00:30:55,509
to achieve, some things like that. So we just
want to give you a lot of information at once.

323
00:30:55,509 --> 00:31:00,229
We found that people travel 20-40 minutes
one-way to get to a supermarket. And most

324
00:31:00,229 --> 00:31:06,298
people do shop in supermarkets. People outside
of the neighborhoods do not know this. They

325
00:31:06,298 --> 00:31:11,700
think you do not cook. They think you do not
eat healthy food or care. How many people

326
00:31:11,700 --> 00:31:18,700
don't care about what they eat? Thank you.
How many people here cook meals at home? Thank

327
00:31:21,308 --> 00:31:27,418
you. How many people want fresh, healthy affordable
food? How many people here like what you find

328
00:31:27,419 --> 00:31:34,419
here in the corner stores? Thank you. The
point is, corner stores as you already know

329
00:31:35,700 --> 00:31:36,489
don't have much fresh food.

330
00:31:36,489 --> 00:31:37,419
No they don't.

331
00:31:37,419 --> 00:31:39,159
And what they sell is expensive.

332
00:31:39,159 --> 00:31:42,009
Yeah it is! Embarrassing!

333
00:31:42,009 --> 00:31:46,569
What happens when the husband has to go to
work and there is only one car? Where does

334
00:31:46,569 --> 00:31:47,868
the mother go to get milk?

335
00:31:47,868 --> 00:31:49,288
The corner store.

336
00:31:49,288 --> 00:31:56,288
Right. So we want to make sure that that corner
store has healthy, affordable food. So what

337
00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:03,649
can we do? What solutions can we find? And
that's what we're all searching for.

338
00:32:03,648 --> 00:32:10,648
The amount of land that is available in Oakland
-- where you have the most food insecure

339
00:32:11,819 --> 00:32:15,019
people, where you have the highest concentration
of liquor stores, where they don't have

340
00:32:15,019 --> 00:32:19,149
access to any fresh food, not even Safeway
-- there's 200 hectares, that's about

341
00:32:19,148 --> 00:32:26,148
400 acres of available land. Well that land
should be given to the people so that they

342
00:32:27,848 --> 00:32:31,999
can produce food.

343
00:32:31,999 --> 00:32:36,339
It really did come out of just living in this
community, seeing the conditions. There are

344
00:32:36,339 --> 00:32:42,749
no grocery stores here and there is a wealth
of corner liquor stores. I saw that and I

345
00:32:42,749 --> 00:32:48,149
also saw that there is all this vacant land,
there are all these empty lots that are just

346
00:32:48,148 --> 00:32:53,348
sitting here. So as a person with a background
in gardening, those empty lots to me looked

347
00:32:53,348 --> 00:32:58,058
like, "wow, gardens!"

348
00:32:58,058 --> 00:33:05,058
You want a strawberry? You want to go help
her set up the eggs?

349
00:33:14,249 --> 00:33:16,669
It was responding to what seemed like people
wanted.

350
00:33:16,669 --> 00:33:23,669
Oh what are these? Greens? Oh, turnips. Yeah.

351
00:33:27,269 --> 00:33:31,638
We started growing food here and then it wasn't
enough. And so then we said ok let's see

352
00:33:31,638 --> 00:33:38,638
if we can borrow some more empty lots. And
that wasn't enough. And it always flowed.

353
00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:43,690
It was never difficult. People would always
ask us how did you do outreach to the community.

354
00:33:43,690 --> 00:33:47,788
And we never did outreach. It was word of
mouth.

355
00:33:47,788 --> 00:33:48,038
Mmm. Seeds for arugula.

356
00:33:47,788 --> 00:33:54,788
That's the best part of growing a garden
is collecting the seeds.

357
00:34:04,409 --> 00:34:10,300
We are really about how can we really significantly
grow produce in the city? How can we do that

358
00:34:10,300 --> 00:34:13,429
while involving our community?

359
00:34:13,429 --> 00:34:20,429
In 2007 I quit my job, went to UC Santa Cruz
Farm and Gardening Program and I got a certificate.

360
00:34:22,250 --> 00:34:27,539
I learned how to farm organically and grow
food organically. And I wanted to take that

361
00:34:27,539 --> 00:34:32,130
knowledge and that skill and pass it on to
the students here at the alternative high.

362
00:34:32,130 --> 00:34:36,169
People at Berkeley High have determined that
they can't fit in somehow at Berkeley High

363
00:34:36,168 --> 00:34:41,509
and they send them here. That says to me they
need more. If they're not making it in mainstream

364
00:34:41,510 --> 00:34:44,690
-- in the Berkeley High -- and you separate
them out, well you give them more services.

365
00:34:44,690 --> 00:34:48,599
It's just the opposite. They give them less.
And five years ago they didn't even have

366
00:34:48,599 --> 00:34:53,199
any food. They didn't even have any lunch.
We're going to do bean soup today. Now remember

367
00:34:53,199 --> 00:34:54,949
last week I was talking about how vegetables
can be used for breakfast. There's nothing

368
00:34:54,949 --> 00:34:56,460
wrong with vegetables for breakfast. There's
nothing wrong with soup for breakfast either.

369
00:34:56,460 --> 00:35:03,460
When you eat Lucky Charms and they got a pink
charm in it, where do you think that color

370
00:35:04,239 --> 00:35:07,189
comes from?

371
00:35:07,190 --> 00:35:09,150
Artificial flavors? I mean colors.

372
00:35:09,150 --> 00:35:15,320
Open up your mind. Try things. Don't just
say, oh I've never done it before and I

373
00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:19,000
feel funny doing it. You always feel funny
doing something the first time.

374
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:21,340
Alright, I'm here.

375
00:35:21,340 --> 00:35:25,240
Yay! Joy! Hi Joy! Joy!

376
00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:30,809
In 1978 I was a single mom and my daughter
was having health problems. And she developed

377
00:35:30,809 --> 00:35:36,759
petite mild seizures. She wasn't sleeping
properly. She had behavior problems. She wasn't

378
00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:42,530
doing well in kindergarten.
All of the products on your tables have lists

379
00:35:42,530 --> 00:35:49,530
of what's in it. I want you, as a group,
at your table, to come up with how many grams

380
00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:56,809
of sugar are in the products at your table.
I took her to the doctor and they said, we

381
00:35:56,809 --> 00:35:59,849
don't know what's wrong with your daughter,
but we're going to give her Ritalin to control

382
00:35:59,849 --> 00:36:03,759
the seizures. And I was like, no. I mean if
you don't know what's wrong with her how

383
00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:07,070
do you know what you're giving her.
120 grams of sugar in this can.

384
00:36:07,070 --> 00:36:07,610
No, 126.

385
00:36:07,610 --> 00:36:13,180
Excuse me. 126. Let me make sure we get it
right.

386
00:36:13,179 --> 00:36:18,210
We realized that she was getting severe allergic
reactions to processed foods. Particularly

387
00:36:18,210 --> 00:36:22,150
petrochemicals, artificial color, artificial
flavor, and preservatives that have petroleum

388
00:36:22,150 --> 00:36:29,010
as their base. So we changed the way we ate.
From that day to this. My whole family actually.

389
00:36:29,010 --> 00:36:33,060
And it took about two weeks -- a little more
than 2 weeks -- and all of her symptoms all

390
00:36:33,059 --> 00:36:38,679
went away. And I realized there was a difference
in me. You know I was different. Learning

391
00:36:38,679 --> 00:36:45,679
how to read labels was my first food awareness
exercise in my life. So this heightened my

392
00:36:46,860 --> 00:36:51,079
awareness about food -- the importance of
food. And to think that something you put

393
00:36:51,079 --> 00:36:55,269
in your mouth can affect your behavior. It
was a very revolutionary idea.

394
00:36:55,269 --> 00:36:56,739
So this is an all fruit smoothie. It doesn't
have any yogurt or anything. How many of you

395
00:36:56,739 --> 00:36:56,989
have ever been to Jamba Juice?

396
00:36:56,739 --> 00:37:01,049
Oh yeah! All the time! Jamba Juice is my favorite!

397
00:37:01,050 --> 00:37:03,190
You like Jamba Juice?

398
00:37:03,190 --> 00:37:05,000
Yeah I love it!

399
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:07,559
Well I think this is better than Jamba Juice.
That's just my opinion.

400
00:37:07,559 --> 00:37:09,289
Well then give me a double.

401
00:37:09,289 --> 00:37:14,460
No, I ain't given you no double. So this
is what I'm loving about the smoothies.

402
00:37:14,460 --> 00:37:18,159
It's a premium. You guys all come in and
try to scam smoothies out of me.

403
00:37:18,159 --> 00:37:20,079
I got a witness.

404
00:37:20,079 --> 00:37:21,500
He worked, but he didn't work double. I
made an announcement. Didn't I? Didn't

405
00:37:21,500 --> 00:37:28,500
I make an announcement? Whoever weeds with
me gets double smoothie. I made an announcement.

406
00:37:33,449 --> 00:37:40,199
This is what I do, I say oh my goodness! You
guys like the smoothies? Smoothies are great!

407
00:37:40,199 --> 00:37:44,059
We'll have strawberries in the smoothies
this summer before you get out of here. We'll

408
00:37:44,059 --> 00:37:46,389
have some strawberries. But we won't have
some strawberries if you don't get out here

409
00:37:46,389 --> 00:37:50,769
and weed this garden right now. And so it's
always back to the strawberries or something

410
00:37:50,769 --> 00:37:54,929
that they can relate to and value right at
this moment and understand. And I'm trying

411
00:37:54,929 --> 00:38:01,589
to connect the importance of farming and gardening
to their stomachs directly, to the table,

412
00:38:01,590 --> 00:38:05,050
to their experience, and then of course to
their behavior.

413
00:38:05,050 --> 00:38:08,550
So what are some of the vitamins that are
in the fruit that we are eating? What are

414
00:38:08,550 --> 00:38:12,760
the fruits? Anybody remember I put in?

415
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:14,820
I saw you putting the oranges in.

416
00:38:14,820 --> 00:38:18,269
Yep. Vitamin C. Absolutely. Now what is vitamin
C good for?

417
00:38:18,269 --> 00:38:19,309
Your immune system.

418
00:38:19,309 --> 00:38:23,889
Immune system. Absolutely. Who else? You can
get up in the morning, make a blender-ful,

419
00:38:23,889 --> 00:38:28,469
drink some of it, put some in a container
or a thermos and bring it to school.

420
00:38:28,469 --> 00:38:30,209
I'd make a 40oz! Messing with me.

421
00:38:30,210 --> 00:38:33,630
40oz, ok. That's a lot

422
00:38:33,630 --> 00:38:39,750
Food for me, it should be a subject at school.
Period. Not somebody who's going to be pre-med

423
00:38:39,750 --> 00:38:46,460
student or a nutritionist. No. Everybody learns
about nutrition just as part of their daily

424
00:38:46,460 --> 00:38:51,000
day. And that does happen when you have a
garden. The good gardener is also talking

425
00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:55,750
about the importance of nutrition. How do
you harvest this food? How do you prepare

426
00:38:55,750 --> 00:38:59,590
this food? What does it do for your body?
What's the essential vitamin in it? If people

427
00:38:59,590 --> 00:39:03,000
get to know that and appreciate that, that
sort of sets the appetite for lunch.

428
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:03,250
Oh my god! It's good!

429
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:03,309
What's it taste like? Oh my god, I was like...I
can't eat that stuff in the morning.

430
00:39:03,309 --> 00:39:04,920
It's really good. Just try it.

431
00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:05,990
It's delicious isn't it?

432
00:39:05,989 --> 00:39:07,329
You didn't even try it.

433
00:39:07,329 --> 00:39:07,599
No.

434
00:39:07,599 --> 00:39:11,339
Man, I should have told y'all people anybody
who don't eat my soup don't get smoothies

435
00:39:11,340 --> 00:39:11,840
next time.

436
00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:18,329
You know I always try everything you bring.
Every time.

437
00:39:18,329 --> 00:39:25,329
As long as you try it. I didn't say eat
it. I said as long as you try it.

438
00:39:31,079 --> 00:39:34,949
Alright you want me to try it? Will it make
you happy if I try it?

439
00:39:34,949 --> 00:39:35,199
Yeah.

440
00:39:35,119 --> 00:39:35,969
Ok then I'll try it.

441
00:39:35,969 --> 00:39:36,309
Too late.

442
00:39:36,309 --> 00:39:37,150
Alright y'all let's go do smoothies.

443
00:39:37,150 --> 00:39:39,329
Sweet. My favorite part of the day.

444
00:39:39,329 --> 00:39:43,469
If they have that skill and that knowledge
then it would be passed on to the next generation

445
00:39:43,469 --> 00:39:47,279
this would be a healthy family that's producing
healthy kids. Now we've got a healthy community.

446
00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:52,630
Oh my god we've got a healthy nation.

447
00:39:52,630 --> 00:39:59,630
When I was 7 years old I had a garden on the
side of my house. When I was 10 years old

448
00:40:00,650 --> 00:40:06,280
I worked with elders who lived in our neighborhood,
who were really into gardening and would grow

449
00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:10,680
10lbs cabbage heads and all these different
fruits and vegetables. I started to think

450
00:40:10,679 --> 00:40:15,409
about that; I did that as a kid. In high school,
at Castlemont, I worked with setting up a

451
00:40:15,409 --> 00:40:22,329
school garden there. I said wow, I've been
doing this for my whole life, but I'm just

452
00:40:22,329 --> 00:40:29,329
now starting to connect the pieces in my adulthood.
I see canneries here in Oakland. I see all

453
00:40:31,519 --> 00:40:35,900
this fruit that's dropping on the ground.
I see youth out there gathering it up. I see

454
00:40:35,900 --> 00:40:40,260
them working with adults and canning and preserving
that food. I see that food being distributed.

455
00:40:40,260 --> 00:40:45,890
I see this whole food system being connected
here in Oakland. And I see the people leading

456
00:40:45,889 --> 00:40:48,069
that charge.

457
00:40:48,070 --> 00:40:55,070
Imagine if you will, if you owned the store
within a five-block radius of your house.

458
00:41:02,530 --> 00:41:09,530
Every time you go to that store you receive
a profitary check. Imagine that for a second.

459
00:41:14,130 --> 00:41:21,130
Right now we're going to other people's
stores, buying stuff and that money goes out.

460
00:41:23,340 --> 00:41:30,340
Now through the collective power of a community
that money stays in and recycles because you're

461
00:41:30,710 --> 00:41:31,970
receiving a profitary check every month or
every quarter or every year. Imagine that

462
00:41:31,969 --> 00:41:34,079
for a second. Now you got people who have
hope.

463
00:41:34,079 --> 00:41:38,130
Local ownership, that's the key. Local ownership,
where the neighbors own the store. All the

464
00:41:38,130 --> 00:41:45,130
profits of the store goes out to the residents,
which then recaptures the wealth. You're

465
00:41:45,670 --> 00:41:51,480
looking at 150,000 potential people who can
be brought online. People who have never even

466
00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:58,079
heard of the stock market would now be stockowners.
When people have ownership, they have a future

467
00:41:58,079 --> 00:42:04,000
they can give to their children, that makes
them get involved and want to participate.

468
00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:08,860
And communities can come together around that.
And it's not just the stores, but the whole

469
00:42:08,860 --> 00:42:14,349
delivery system -- from the farming networks
to the processing and distribution centers.

470
00:42:14,349 --> 00:42:20,309
That creates a whole new economy.

471
00:42:20,309 --> 00:42:24,489
Misa, financial report.

472
00:42:24,489 --> 00:42:31,489
So in spite of our all difficulties last week
we did really, really well. We had 360 orders

473
00:42:31,949 --> 00:42:38,949
for $25,023.72. So our adjusted gross is $22,968.47.

474
00:42:40,050 --> 00:42:46,080
The whole idea of the community-supported
kitchen was to create a model that would be

475
00:42:46,079 --> 00:42:52,309
replicable throughout the country. Anybody
can come down and see how things were made.

476
00:42:52,309 --> 00:42:57,710
We're not about hiding recipes. We're
about sharing information. That kind of accessibility

477
00:42:57,710 --> 00:43:02,470
into a kitchen is very unusual. That not only
can you see, but you can actually come in

478
00:43:02,469 --> 00:43:09,469
and do it. Here's an apron. Here's a knife.
Let's chop some broccoli. We're a worker

479
00:43:10,280 --> 00:43:16,380
owned cooperative. So there's 5 worker-owners
and we all have an equal share in the business.

480
00:43:16,380 --> 00:43:21,400
We ended up financing the kitchen through
loans from members of the community, rather

481
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:28,400
than -- we never had a bank loan and we didn't
go to a bank. We are very committed to supporting

482
00:43:30,090 --> 00:43:35,160
local farms and providing the kind of nutrient-dense
food for families that they can't get anywhere

483
00:43:35,159 --> 00:43:40,799
else based on traditional diets. One of the
things that we do a lot of in the kitchen

484
00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:47,800
is we make bone broths. Bone broths are throughout
the world known to be incredibly nourishing.

485
00:43:48,039 --> 00:43:53,250
They're incredibly rich in minerals that
you're body really needs -- calcium particularly.

486
00:43:53,250 --> 00:43:58,969
The term is nutrient dense and they are. Every
calorie is packed with nutrients. That's

487
00:43:58,969 --> 00:44:04,439
the idea of nutrient-density. So if you eat
a lot of broth, you need less meat. Your body

488
00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:09,070
needs less protein. And so this is a way that
traditional cultures throughout the world

489
00:44:09,070 --> 00:44:14,870
nourish themselves economically and ecologically.
The idea was not the boneless, skinless chicken

490
00:44:14,869 --> 00:44:18,920
breast or the meat patty. You use the whole
animal -- you use the organ meats, you use

491
00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:25,920
the fat, you use the bones -- you make broth.
Making food this way -- processing food this

492
00:44:27,909 --> 00:44:34,909
way -- is really a lost art in our society.
But at Three Stone Hearth we're trying to

493
00:44:37,250 --> 00:44:42,280
rediscover those arts.

494
00:44:42,280 --> 00:44:49,280
Butchering an animal for me always is a very
mixed emotional time. I feel a lot of sadness

495
00:44:58,789 --> 00:45:05,789
and then I feel also a certain amount of respect
for that animal and a responsibility. But

496
00:45:06,559 --> 00:45:13,559
also I feel a certain connectedness to that
animal. It's always tense and difficult.

497
00:45:16,340 --> 00:45:23,340
And I usually try to get the animal to be
calm and relaxed. I use a pellet gun and get

498
00:45:23,630 --> 00:45:27,820
a pellet into the brain so that it's brain
is scrambled immediately and so it's an

499
00:45:27,820 --> 00:45:34,820
instantaneous changing. I meet a lot of meat
eaters who are freaked out that I have such

500
00:45:48,719 --> 00:45:52,769
a connected relationship to the animals that
I eat. They say, oh I could never do that.

501
00:45:52,769 --> 00:45:57,130
And I think that's a representation of our
alienation in our society that people don't

502
00:45:57,130 --> 00:46:01,140
really know where their meat is coming from.
And as I talked about injustices in the world

503
00:46:01,139 --> 00:46:06,299
and people looking the other way, I think
people also do that with meat. They want to

504
00:46:06,300 --> 00:46:10,400
eat meat, but they don't want to know where
it came from and I think that's wrong. So

505
00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:15,809
I feel like as a meat eater it's my place
to try and educate people where does meat

506
00:46:15,809 --> 00:46:22,199
come from. And yes this bunny is meat and
those boy baby goats back there are meat and

507
00:46:22,199 --> 00:46:29,199
that's where it comes from. And people should
face that or consider being a vegetarian.

508
00:46:32,159 --> 00:46:38,639
Nature is cruel and kind. It's beautiful
and ugly all at the same time and we need

509
00:46:38,639 --> 00:46:45,639
it to survive.

510
00:47:05,110 --> 00:47:10,329
I definitely think of myself as a city person
primarily. After this experience living rurally,

511
00:47:10,329 --> 00:47:16,909
it's kind of been more defined for me. It
taught me a lot about my own work ethic -- my

512
00:47:16,909 --> 00:47:22,769
own interest in farming. And I realized that
what I liked more than anything else was the

513
00:47:22,769 --> 00:47:28,269
knowledge of it -- was understanding it,
was practicing it to know more, to get feedback

514
00:47:28,269 --> 00:47:35,269
from the actual experience, but not to spend
my entire life doing it. My personal goal

515
00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:54,750
and desire is to be a catalyst to help start
projects and organizations and businesses

516
00:47:54,750 --> 00:48:00,820
that will train new farmers in the city environment.
...spot where we want to do heavy agricultural

517
00:48:00,820 --> 00:48:05,019
production -- that's usually more when
you get into floatation. You know we just

518
00:48:05,019 --> 00:48:11,320
want to make sure we're not growing the
same thing over and over. And in a small scale

519
00:48:11,320 --> 00:48:11,570
like this...

520
00:48:11,449 --> 00:48:18,189
My thoughts right now are really around how
do we scale up the work? We reach hundreds

521
00:48:18,190 --> 00:48:22,179
of people and for those individuals what we're
doing is extremely significant. But we need

522
00:48:22,179 --> 00:48:26,199
to really look at thousands of people -- there
are 30,000 people in West Oakland -- we really

523
00:48:26,199 --> 00:48:31,869
need to reach them. If I had a million, two
million, three million dollars right now,

524
00:48:31,869 --> 00:48:37,819
I would bring our backyard garden program
to the whole city of Oakland. These projects

525
00:48:37,820 --> 00:48:44,820
are springing up everywhere.

526
00:48:47,219 --> 00:48:54,219
I took about 2 months with a friend of mine
where we traveled around the state interviewing

527
00:48:59,380 --> 00:49:04,849
people -- farmers, activists, non-profit
workers, people who lived in farmworker communities

528
00:49:04,849 --> 00:49:08,679
-- all these different people who had something
to do with what I was considering the sustainable

529
00:49:08,679 --> 00:49:12,219
food system.
If we roll down these roads - these country

530
00:49:12,219 --> 00:49:17,509
roads - we see these other dairies and it
looks just like a poop stew or something.

531
00:49:17,510 --> 00:49:20,310
It is. It's a monoculture of manure.

532
00:49:20,309 --> 00:49:24,559
And my goal was to really get a sense of who
was the system? What was it? And what were

533
00:49:24,559 --> 00:49:28,639
the main challenges to actually making a sustainable
food system more mainstream?

534
00:49:28,639 --> 00:49:33,409
So the water pollution, the extinction of
the species, the extinction of the salmon,

535
00:49:33,409 --> 00:49:39,219
the air pollution quality, the cancer rates,
are all yields of your design. You're just

536
00:49:39,219 --> 00:49:46,029
not booking them on your balance sheet. And
so how do we look to becoming eco-literate

537
00:49:46,030 --> 00:49:53,030
and go into the university of deep wisdom,
which are native ecosystems and emulate that

538
00:49:53,690 --> 00:49:58,639
with our agricultural endeavors.

539
00:49:58,639 --> 00:50:02,679
Just feeling like I really am part of a movement
-- there are people all over who are doing

540
00:50:02,679 --> 00:50:07,359
very similar things. And we have a lot of
very similar values. Sometimes there are different

541
00:50:07,360 --> 00:50:14,070
approaches.
So I'm always interested in how you get

542
00:50:14,070 --> 00:50:19,570
people to see themselves as more than consumers;
to see themselves as political actors in every

543
00:50:19,570 --> 00:50:23,400
aspect of every day of their lives. I feel
like people in this country act like the only

544
00:50:23,400 --> 00:50:28,110
thing you can do to be political is vote for
a new president every four years. And that's

545
00:50:28,110 --> 00:50:31,950
why having a garden - or participating even
better in a community garden where you're

546
00:50:31,949 --> 00:50:35,589
working with other people - that's directly
engaging in that struggle. You're directly

547
00:50:35,590 --> 00:50:39,780
growing food. Making this positive change.
As well as challenging the things you don't

548
00:50:39,780 --> 00:50:44,220
like. The only way that change has ever really
happened has been when people create these

549
00:50:44,219 --> 00:50:49,199
grassroots, alternative movements combined
with actually putting political pressure on

550
00:50:49,199 --> 00:50:52,230
the system as it is.

551
00:50:52,230 --> 00:50:59,230
We're right now in the midst of writing
a memo for the USDA and we'd love to bounce

552
00:51:03,119 --> 00:51:06,519
that off you because what I'd love is to
have us echoing each other so that the USDA

553
00:51:06,519 --> 00:51:13,099
is getting the same kind of data you're
giving to the White House.

554
00:51:13,099 --> 00:51:20,099
I would say that 10% of my job is trying to
figure out how rich changes to an organization

555
00:51:21,550 --> 00:51:27,990
could work. 30% of my job is networking, meetings,
making new connections. 60% of my job is writing.

556
00:51:27,989 --> 00:51:33,279
If we're going to be a movement, we have
to think about the language. The language

557
00:51:33,280 --> 00:51:37,090
becomes a way of seeing the journey to a new
place.

558
00:51:37,090 --> 00:51:43,200
We're working to combine the NGO, the Dept.
of Ag. In California, the Dept. of Health

559
00:51:43,199 --> 00:51:49,679
and the Dept. of Education to bring to bear
about ten million dollars of money from -hopefully

560
00:51:49,679 --> 00:51:56,419
the CDC -- in order to really leverage and
get more good food to low income families,

561
00:51:56,420 --> 00:52:00,039
to the farmer's markets because we're
doing this double voucher program. When you

562
00:52:00,039 --> 00:52:04,739
change your paradigm you have to re-conceptualize
it. You have to think differently to create

563
00:52:04,739 --> 00:52:08,089
the world differently. The other big piece
is to bounce the thinking off people. And

564
00:52:08,090 --> 00:52:14,940
that happens in the meetings.
So what I have here is basically is our port

565
00:52:14,940 --> 00:52:19,530
that grew out of the policy that was created
for San Francisco, which is a regional food

566
00:52:19,530 --> 00:52:23,850
policy in which the city is going to commit
to buy regionally with it's buying power.

567
00:52:23,849 --> 00:52:28,210
It's going to develop up to 40 urban farms
in the city.

568
00:52:28,210 --> 00:52:32,490
Talking about an idea. The struggle over what
do we really mean by the reintegration of

569
00:52:32,489 --> 00:52:37,059
human beings into the natural world as manifest
to the food system. But that has to be bounced

570
00:52:37,059 --> 00:52:40,599
off other people. If it just stays up in one
person's head or a bunch of people in their

571
00:52:40,599 --> 00:52:44,809
own silos, then it doesn't mean anything.
You have to bounce the ideas and create synthesis

572
00:52:44,809 --> 00:52:45,259
in the way people think.

573
00:52:45,260 --> 00:52:49,490
Connect at a local level. And I think that
we probably have a sympathetic audience over

574
00:52:49,489 --> 00:52:51,289
there. So I'll give it a good pitch.

575
00:52:51,289 --> 00:52:54,050
That would be great.
And then they get to have the conversation

576
00:52:54,050 --> 00:52:58,870
at USDA and then their going to have it with
the Congress. Eventually all that thinking,

577
00:52:58,869 --> 00:53:03,980
which begins in all those different rooms
on peoples' computers, ends up being written

578
00:53:03,980 --> 00:53:09,340
into law over time. That's the system of
how society changes, I think. That's how

579
00:53:09,340 --> 00:53:16,340
I conceptualize it anyway.

580
00:53:21,389 --> 00:53:26,779
There are possibilities in this city. Oakland
has high unemployment in a lot of these neighborhoods.

581
00:53:26,780 --> 00:53:31,340
And as I said, there is tremendous spending
power there, that if captured could be put

582
00:53:31,340 --> 00:53:35,460
into jobs -- local jobs in the community.
And one of the key challenges that we've

583
00:53:35,460 --> 00:53:39,949
experienced in terms of barriers is this issue
of scaling. How to actually scale the models

584
00:53:39,949 --> 00:53:44,500
that we see beginning to work at the ground
level? That are starting to take root. That

585
00:53:44,500 --> 00:53:50,800
are starting to integrate into a more comprehensive
solution. When we looked at our performance

586
00:53:50,800 --> 00:53:56,850
as one single, small organization, we found
that over almost seven years of work, time,

587
00:53:56,849 --> 00:54:03,449
effort, blood, sweat, tears, budget and staff,
we had met less than 1% of demand in the community.

588
00:54:03,449 --> 00:54:09,699
Less than 1% of total demand in the community.
And that was for me a very significant wake

589
00:54:09,699 --> 00:54:14,689
up call to the imperative of scale. That there
are grassroots innovative models that need

590
00:54:14,690 --> 00:54:19,619
to get traction - that need to get bigger.
But we've hit the ceilings as practitioners

591
00:54:19,619 --> 00:54:24,769
at the grassroots level. We've hit the ceilings
again and again and seen oh, policy is major.

592
00:54:24,769 --> 00:54:31,769
You know we're doing all this work for sustainable
agriculture. And it works. And yet, these

593
00:54:32,030 --> 00:54:38,960
are still small islands of sustainability.
Even if you're more resistant, more resilient,

594
00:54:38,960 --> 00:54:44,809
more sustainable, spread the wealth better,
feed more people, employ more people, it won't

595
00:54:44,809 --> 00:54:51,150
make a difference if the food system is not
democratized. It's not enough just to be

596
00:54:51,150 --> 00:54:56,230
a good farmer. In fact you also need to be
an advocate and an activist. And you need

597
00:54:56,230 --> 00:55:01,880
to create the political will in order to make
the changes that you need.

598
00:55:01,880 --> 00:55:06,180
It's a political change. It's social and
political. And the only people that are going

599
00:55:06,179 --> 00:55:13,179
to change that are social movements -- massive
social movements.

600
00:55:16,250 --> 00:55:23,250
We're open to a dialogue to deal with this
and get them to approve it. And support us.

601
00:55:43,650 --> 00:55:46,470
Please support us because this is for you
as well.

602
00:55:46,469 --> 00:55:53,169
In other words, you need to have control over
the food system so that the people who are

603
00:55:53,170 --> 00:55:59,110
doing the things that work can actually have
a chance. And the other people who say, hey

604
00:55:59,110 --> 00:56:01,650
that's great, let's do that, actually
have a voice.

605
00:56:01,650 --> 00:56:05,190
We are the 99! We are the 99!

606
00:56:05,190 --> 00:56:09,150
That's where it comes a new concept, called
the "Food Summit" concept, which is developed

607
00:56:09,150 --> 00:56:14,289
by the Via Campesina in the developing world.
It's basically a concept on not only food

608
00:56:14,289 --> 00:56:20,000
security, not only access to food, but also
to provide all the resources that people need

609
00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:27,000
in order to have food. That is land. That
is the seeds of the crops that are not patented

610
00:56:27,570 --> 00:56:32,840
-- the local seeds that have been preserved.
The water. The education and the human capital.

611
00:56:32,840 --> 00:56:38,600
Everything that is needed -- all those components
have to be present.

612
00:56:38,599 --> 00:56:43,480
This isn't something one legislates even
though it entails legislation and policy and

613
00:56:43,480 --> 00:56:50,230
what not. It's something that is socially
learned. And that means sharing our knowledge,

614
00:56:50,230 --> 00:56:56,409
sharing our experiences. As people move towards
food sovereignty, they not only have to share

615
00:56:56,409 --> 00:57:01,069
amongst themselves, they have to share with
others. How did they do this? How did you

616
00:57:01,070 --> 00:57:03,260
do that?

617
00:57:03,260 --> 00:57:09,320
By educating people, by engaging in discussion,
by promoting more awareness of what's going

618
00:57:09,320 --> 00:57:13,460
on in other parts of the world maybe people
can see that if in other countries it's

619
00:57:13,460 --> 00:57:17,860
possible, it is also possible here. This is
concretely happening in other countries. And

620
00:57:17,860 --> 00:57:22,309
I think it's time now for the North-South
exchanges. Not just the North always teaching

621
00:57:22,309 --> 00:57:29,309
the South, but the South has a lot to teach
us today in terms of alternatives to the system.

622
00:57:32,659 --> 00:57:39,659
Farming is the kind of work that people are
really, really hungry for. Anyone can do this.

623
00:57:49,409 --> 00:57:56,409
Anyone can find a place that is misused or
unused and get a group of people together

624
00:57:57,010 --> 00:58:03,690
and go and start using it to grow food and
empower your community to connect to each

625
00:58:03,690 --> 00:58:05,269
other and be themselves.

626
00:58:05,269 --> 00:58:11,269
The struggle to preserve this land, I think,
needs to continue. Focusing on closing the

627
00:58:11,269 --> 00:58:16,719
gap between production and consumption is
perhaps the most revolutionary act that can

628
00:58:16,719 --> 00:58:22,159
happen today because then it will also have
implications in terms of energy use, in terms

629
00:58:22,159 --> 00:58:29,159
of greenhouse emissions, in terms of resilience
to climate change, and in terms of food justice.

630
00:58:37,210 --> 00:58:41,650
I like to refer to the "Occupy Moment,"
not the "Occupy Movement" because I think

631
00:58:41,650 --> 00:58:45,610
that we've all been working towards different
projects. The food justice projects that have

632
00:58:45,610 --> 00:58:49,460
been happening before Occupy, they're going
to keep going. And now they are just inspired

633
00:58:49,460 --> 00:58:54,300
and influenced by the tactics and the models
and the rhetoric of the Occupy Movement. Now

634
00:58:54,300 --> 00:58:58,720
we're at this Occupy Moment where we're
able to take that opening, where people are

635
00:58:58,719 --> 00:59:03,109
actually having to have to discuss these issues
and confront them. Even people in power who

636
00:59:03,110 --> 00:59:09,000
don't want to discuss these issues are having
to deal with them. We have an opportunity

637
00:59:09,000 --> 00:59:13,639
to actually bring this up and to combine the
Occupy Moment -- the Occupy Movement -- with

638
00:59:13,639 --> 00:59:18,159
all our values as the food movement. And that's
what I think is happening here.

639
00:59:18,159 --> 00:59:25,009
Things are happening. It's like seeds being
planted. The mass population doesn't know

640
00:59:25,010 --> 00:59:31,540
there is this bubbling coming up. And the
longer this goes on, the more people will

641
00:59:31,539 --> 00:59:38,539
join and see the common cause that we all
have.

642
00:59:43,150 --> 00:59:49,849
We're not going to be able to just wait
for the senators to realize that food justice

643
00:59:49,849 --> 00:59:54,730
is important or for the president to decide
that Monsantos' dollars for his campaign

644
00:59:54,730 --> 00:59:58,449
are not as worth it as his constituents'
voice. We can't wait for these things to

645
00:59:58,449 --> 01:00:04,509
happen because they never will happen. We
know where power really lies. Power lies in

646
01:00:04,510 --> 01:00:10,190
people. And we intend to start slowly, but
certainly taking back the power we know we

647
01:00:10,190 --> 01:00:15,340
have from those who have been deciding arbitrarily
that they are the ones who know what's best

648
01:00:15,340 --> 01:00:22,340
for us. We're doing it with diverse communities
- trying to do it openly and transparently.

649
01:00:22,530 --> 01:00:29,530
And hopefully create some of the structures
that we want to see exist in our future, democratic,

650
01:00:29,800 --> 01:00:34,600
ecological, economically just society. But
also have a good time while we're doing

651
01:00:34,599 --> 01:00:38,539
it. Grow some food for some people. Be out
in the sun working together. I think there

652
01:00:38,539 --> 01:00:43,309
are so many ways in which this kind of action
defines both the opposition to the things

653
01:00:43,309 --> 01:00:50,309
that are wrong and the creation of what's
right.

654
01:00:51,659 --> 01:00:57,469
This is lateral and it's growing outward
and there's more and more people involved

655
01:00:57,469 --> 01:01:03,709
every time. Everybody having a say, everybody
being involved. And so this is just a small

656
01:01:03,710 --> 01:01:10,710
microcosm of what I hope can grow into a bigger
political system in this country. Am I too

657
01:01:11,150 --> 01:01:18,150
lofty? Yeah. Too idealistic? So what. I love
it. I love the way it feels here.

658
01:01:18,619 --> 01:01:24,779
So we're talking about social movements
that are not necessarily revolutionary, arm

659
01:01:24,780 --> 01:01:29,440
struggle movements, but are movements that
can make changes because of the pressure that

660
01:01:29,440 --> 01:01:35,670
they are putting on their local politicians.
And also they are putting their own politicians

661
01:01:35,670 --> 01:01:40,220
in power -- like the MST in Brazil. The MST
in Brazil is a movement of landless people

662
01:01:40,219 --> 01:01:43,889
-- 10 million people -- that already took
over more than 10 million hectares of land

663
01:01:43,889 --> 01:01:47,980
-- that's the size of Italy. Regardless
of what the government says. And the government

664
01:01:47,980 --> 01:01:51,210
has to negotiate with them and explicate the
land in order to give it to them.

665
01:01:51,210 --> 01:01:58,210
We're not alone. We're not the minority.
We're not the fringe. We're the cutting

666
01:02:04,219 --> 01:02:11,219
edge. And there are cutting edges all over
the globe.

667
01:02:11,519 --> 01:02:15,940
I need to constantly remind myself that the
world has always been crazy. That people have

668
01:02:15,940 --> 01:02:20,619
always lived in crazy times because you look
around and it seems nuts. I went from the

669
01:02:20,619 --> 01:02:25,210
peak oil, I am going to escape to the country,
I just need to learn how to grow food first,

670
01:02:25,210 --> 01:02:32,210
to the only place we're going to solve these
issues is the city.

671
01:02:33,369 --> 01:02:37,170
I feel like I'm part of a large group of
people who are trying to steer a boat through

672
01:02:37,170 --> 01:02:41,849
an incredible storm. And there are a lot of
people in mainstream agriculture and organic

673
01:02:41,849 --> 01:02:45,989
agriculture and industrial food systems. Even
in those places I come across lots of people

674
01:02:45,989 --> 01:02:52,989
who see the same problems and want to deal
with it. And so I have lots of hope when I

675
01:03:00,630 --> 01:03:00,910
see that. So, it's good.

676
01:03:00,909 --> 01:03:07,639
We have to find lots of ways to rediscover
that food can connect us to the earth, to

677
01:03:07,639 --> 01:03:11,900
animals, to plants, to our families, to our
friends, to the farmers, to all the hands

678
01:03:11,900 --> 01:03:18,900
that bring that food to us. It's just assumed
in so many societies that you won't eat

679
01:03:21,619 --> 01:03:25,410
without acknowledging that whole web of connection
that every plate of food has.

680
01:03:25,409 --> 01:03:28,509
We've changed it all. And I think that the
basic tenet of life is to wake up in the morning,

681
01:03:28,510 --> 01:03:28,760
work really hard growing food. Share the work
and the experience with your community and

682
01:03:28,570 --> 01:03:34,710
your family. Come home, prepare a harvested
meal -- a great, well-cooked meal -- and

683
01:03:34,710 --> 01:03:41,710
have fun and laughter. That's the day. That's
the life. That's what it was about. And

684
01:03:46,079 --> 01:03:53,079
we've added too many things to it. And that's
why a lot of us are ill. We don't take care

685
01:03:53,809 --> 01:04:00,590
and eat the food that we're supposed to
eat. That's a huge mushroom boy.

686
01:04:00,590 --> 01:04:04,720
There's an old saying, if you keep doing
what you're doing, you're going to get

687
01:04:04,719 --> 01:04:09,359
what you got. And that's what society is
going to happen to society. We're going

688
01:04:09,360 --> 01:04:16,360
to keep having this crazy cycle of violence,
crazy cycles of disparity, inequity, injustice.

689
01:04:17,070 --> 01:04:24,070
But when you try to do the right thing -- when
you forsake your interests for the betterment

690
01:04:26,059 --> 01:04:33,059
of your fellow man, that's a proper cause.
That's how you fight the bad with the good.

691
01:05:17,550 --> 01:05:24,550
You fight evil with love. So that's what
we're trying to do. I'm going to catch

692
01:05:25,110 --> 01:05:26,530
this ride ok.

693
01:05:26,530 --> 01:05:28,420
Ok thank you Leon.

694
01:05:28,420 --> 01:05:34,900
Ok c'mon. Stand. Stand. It's amazing the
amount of denial around the problems on this

695
01:05:34,900 --> 01:05:41,900
planet. Or our potential to screw this planet
up. I hope the world doesn't go all Mad

696
01:05:42,349 --> 01:05:49,349
Max on us. It could happen.
Ok, let's go. C'mon. Hup, hup. C'mon

697
01:05:55,969 --> 01:06:01,939
let's go. C'mon. Let's go.

698
01:06:01,940 --> 01:06:06,720
What? What is that?

699
01:06:06,719 --> 01:06:07,909
Goats.

700
01:06:07,909 --> 01:06:10,299
Goats, huh?

701
01:06:10,300 --> 01:06:14,410
Yep.
I hope that sustainable living could be one

702
01:06:14,409 --> 01:06:20,670
of the things that could allow people to disengage
from the destruction around them and engage

703
01:06:20,670 --> 01:06:26,889
in building something and communities here
in the city. I hope that we're like a seed

704
01:06:26,889 --> 01:06:33,889
of possibility that might sprout.

705
01:06:36,170 --> 01:06:39,250
This is the tip of the iceberg right here
- all of the vegetables and things like that.

706
01:06:39,250 --> 01:06:45,230
But the massive underside of it is thousands
of worms and decaying matter. And all sorts

707
01:06:45,230 --> 01:06:50,340
of interesting microbiological activity happening
down here that just blows my mind the more

708
01:06:50,340 --> 01:06:51,750
I learn about it.
You just take these little bulbs and you just

709
01:06:51,750 --> 01:06:57,840
stick'em all around and hide them in the
garden. Make sure you get them right under

710
01:06:57,840 --> 01:07:02,600
the soil. You put them down like maybe an
inch in the ground.

711
01:07:02,599 --> 01:07:03,190
This thing already got one Mr. Harvey.

712
01:07:03,190 --> 01:07:10,190
Oh it's cool. You can just make sure that
goes to the bottom because that's where

713
01:07:16,030 --> 01:07:22,369
the roots go out. I put garlic in my sicket.
I put garlic in my eggs too.

714
01:07:22,369 --> 01:07:24,200
Oh yeah, that's hecka good.

715
01:07:24,199 --> 01:07:29,460
Some old gentleman who lived around the school
came over and we were talking about the garden.

716
01:07:29,460 --> 01:07:33,809
We were excited about it. And he said, oh
baby we did this before. We had a garden here.

717
01:07:33,809 --> 01:07:37,960
Y'all just don't know we had a garden
here. We had a victory garden here. Gardening

718
01:07:37,960 --> 01:07:42,349
is a tradition here at Malcolm X. I'm so
glad to see you back. And I was like this

719
01:07:42,349 --> 01:07:47,000
is the history. We thought we were doing something
new and should have known that the history

720
01:07:47,000 --> 01:07:51,019
of the school's been there a hundred years
- somebody had a garden there. This is not

721
01:07:51,019 --> 01:07:56,599
nothing new we're doing here, but it is
a renewal in a way if you think about it.

722
01:07:56,599 --> 01:08:02,329
Because what have we done in our society.
We have added iPods and technology and communication

723
01:08:02,329 --> 01:08:08,579
and cars and telephones and texting and sexting
and all these things. But we've forgotten

724
01:08:08,579 --> 01:08:13,569
why we're here. What's the most important
thing? You can't text, iPod, sext, or anything

725
01:08:13,570 --> 01:08:19,630
without good health. This is hard work, but
it's fun too. It can be. So I'm doing

726
01:08:19,630 --> 01:08:23,329
the Zen meditation -- this is what I call
it. So I'm telling them in the classroom,

727
01:08:23,329 --> 01:08:30,329
you guys want to go out and do some Zen meditation?
And their like yeah, yeah what's that!?

728
01:08:30,390 --> 01:08:37,359
And I'm like, it's gardening. It's weeding.

729
01:08:37,359 --> 01:08:44,329
I think it's a real opportunity to truly
understand and feel -- you know physically,

730
01:08:44,329 --> 01:08:49,039
emotionally feel -- the fact that we're
not separate. That we have to come together

731
01:08:49,039 --> 01:08:54,180
in communities in order to deal with the messes
that we've created.

732
01:08:54,180 --> 01:08:56,119
Good afternoon!

733
01:08:56,119 --> 01:08:58,059
Buenas tardes!

734
01:08:58,060 --> 01:09:01,950
Buenas tardes! Como estan?

735
01:09:01,949 --> 01:09:02,920
Bien!

736
01:09:02,920 --> 01:09:06,810
How are you doing?

737
01:09:06,810 --> 01:09:09,759
Is everybody having a good time?

738
01:09:09,759 --> 01:09:12,520
Bienvenidos! Come estan pasando?

739
01:09:12,520 --> 01:09:19,520
This is a very special event. We are blessed
today to have Ollin Yolitzli, which is an

740
01:09:28,470 --> 01:09:35,470
Aztec dance troupe. It is a way to bless the
community and this garden project and this

741
01:09:38,988 --> 01:09:44,309
area. The dance is going to be a blessing
dance. Whoo! Listen to that. That's the

742
01:09:44,310 --> 01:09:46,039
wind. That's the spirit.

743
01:09:46,039 --> 01:09:48,640
Es el viento. Y los spiritu.

744
01:09:48,640 --> 01:09:53,329
I thought, so why don't we start a culinary
class -- get people job skills they needed.

745
01:09:53,329 --> 01:10:00,329
So we started the culinary program. And I
was in that coach class to see how it went.

746
01:10:04,609 --> 01:10:10,439
And now they're about to go out and do their
thing. It's what you can be and what you

747
01:10:10,439 --> 01:10:11,039
can do in this moment.