[Editor's Note: The headline of this story was updated shortly after publication to clarify statements made by the dean Tuesday night.]
The University of California dean who oversees the Gill Tract announced plans Tuesday night to create a center for food systems, urban agriculture and food policy that would be connected to the research field for at least the next decade.
Keith Gilless, who runs UC Berkeley's College of Natural Resources, gave the City Council, route: {:controller=>"local_facts", :action=>"show", :id=>"albany-city-council"} --> and members of the public an update at and to force the university to let the city have a say in the Gill Tract's future. Fields said he was also disappointed when plans by the city to
if they (the UC) provide information on the "soil" and it is tested that nothing "toxic" is in the soil..then I am for it..I've stated this in the past..or from past articles when the Occupy group was there planting things. I was concerned whether they checked the "soil" before they started farming. Just want safety, or as much as we can get nowadays.
http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/09/19/cnr-dean-outlines-new-plans-for-gill-tract/
Yet those seven acres are just a third of the approximate 20 acres of almost exclusively research land that is the Gill Tract. Especially now that the diseased tree's were removed, there is more potential research land then ever before. Except for the Creek Zone, all of the land cleared south of the creek was for research. Its time to restart that research work, and reclaim that land. And no amount of commenting, or arm chair jockeying will accomplish that. Only intelligent community focused direct action will save this research land!! #OccupyTheFarm!!!
In surveyor's terms, a section is one square mile. There are 640 acres to a section. Therefore, one acre is (5280 x 5280)/640=43,560 sq. ft. By taking the square root of that number, we can determine that one acre, if a square plot of land, is about 209 x 209 feet. Multiply that by 7 to determine that 7 acres is a plot of land 209 x 1461 feet. That's a lot of vegetables. For comparison, note that the maximum size of the Whole foods market is 55,000 sq. ft. and that includes storerooms and other work area. 55,000 square feet is 55,000/43,560 = 1.27 acres. Finally, by dividing 7 acres by 1.27, we arrive at the result that 7 acres is more than 5.5 times as big as the square footage of the proposed Whole Foods market. One more comparison. I have two raised beds in my back yard. If fully planted, they keep me busy. Each is 4' x 12', for 48 sq. ft. Let's say if I was retired, and devoted most of my time to gardening, I could take care of 10 such beds, a total of 480 sq. ft. Note that 7 acres is 43,560 x 7 = 304,920 sq. ft. Divide that number by 480 to arrive at the result that if one person can handle 480 sq. ft. of garden, then 7 acres requires about 635 people. Or a lot of mechanization. I'll leave it to the reader to draw their own conclusions.
if you were on the council now, would you support rescinding the development agreement or holding a special election? would you have voted to certify the eir? any comment on little league fields and the agriculture land being guaranteed for only 10 years?
I'm saddened to hear the 'diseased trees,' mostly pear I believe, were removed. The U.C. Ag department, along with the Entomology Department have been using those trees for years to further our knowledge of natural pest control. If you've got a better idea, or location in Berkeley/Albany for such work, please publish it. If you REALLY want to create a community garden, then I will supply a rototiller for you to get started at the failed 'Owl Habitat Restoration' project, which is just a half mile away from the Gill Tract.