Blog: Occupy the Farm Puts Best of Albany on Display

Regardless of how one feels about the Occupy the Farm phenomenon, it's hard not to feel pride about having Albany be one of the Occupy movement's current ground zeroes. Think about it: In the ongoing national debate about what to do about the robber-barons who now control our country, a sleepy little town that's hidden within a metropolis, and which is home largely to families who want for little, has taken over the headlines, all because of a controversial plot of undeveloped land.

What makes me even prouder is how the community has handled this "invasion," as critics have cast it. Weeks after it began, Occupy the Farm has yet to be the site of any real fireworks, not with authorities and not with local residents. Yes, there are many people who are opposed for a number of reasons—perhaps they perceive it as a threat to the , or as a dismissable example of Hippie Manifest Destiny, or as yet another possible obstacle to Whole Foods' never-ending attempts to get a store built on an adjacent piece of property fronting San Pablo Avenue. And yes, many of these voices of opposition have found a platform here on Albany Patch, or in Albany's numerous coffee houses, or at this week's reportedly heated City Council meeting.

But no one has shown up at the Gill Tract to shout abuses, vandalize or otherwise rain on the farmers' parade. They've kept their criticisms civilized, and have aired them in appropriate forums. The Albany police have kept a very low profile, and Albany leadership has seemed sympathetic and supportive. Passing motorists have honked constantly in support. A growing swath of Albany families have gotten intimately involved, joining in community movie screenings in the middle of the field, showing their kids the value of communal hard work. And everywhere one goes in Albany, the Farm is a discussion flashpoint—say "the Farm" to anyone you run into along lower Solano Avenue, and they'll immediately know what you're talking about. It's become almost as recognized a presence as , , or Safeway.

To be clear, I have spent literally zero time at The Farm, unless you count the 20 minutes I took to ride my bike down to Gill Tract on Wednesday morning after being awakened by the over my neighborhood. After all the Occupy hoopla that's unfolded in Oakland the past several months, I half expected to find scores of farmers, linked arm-in-arm, standing ground against a line of UC police, and singing "Kumbaya" while being doused with pepper spray. Instead, what I saw was a very mellow, peaceful scene, with non-aggressive uniformed officers standing watch as farmers came and went as they pleased, albeit with "orders" to remove vehicles and camping gear from the property.

Granted, one of my friends who's heavily involved in The Farm (and I have a handful) was irritated that UC chose to stage its mild show of force in the early morning, clogging up things for . But in the scope of Occupy confrontations, that's seriously small potatoes. If UC had wanted to, it could have made a much larger mess of the situation.

And that, more than anything, speaks to the ways The Farm is a different kind of Occupy tactic, one that exemplifies the spirit of Albany—land of compost pickup, urban gardens, and overwhelmingly liberal points of view—and should be considered as a model going forward. Yes, it's confrontational in that the land doesn't belong to the Farmers, and UC doesn't want them there.

But unlike the protesters in Oakland—who have spent months battling City Hall and OPD seemingly to establish little more than the right to camp on public property rather than focusing on the economic issues at hand—Occupy the Farm has hit the right notes. It's a demonstration that seems to be sending the message that, "Hey, we don't need to topple the power structure to make our point—instead, by commandeering some underutilized property (owned by a public institution), we can show the authorities what a community of people can accomplish for themselves if left to their means. We can make the land work for us, rather than vice versa. We can be self-sufficient."

I'm not even saying that I support the Farm, ideologically speaking. I've spent a lot of time thinking about it, and haven't gotten any closer to clarity. But there is one thing I'm certain of: The Farm has helped to put many of Albany's best qualities on display for all to see. And I can't help but think that if more cities were like Albany, things would be a lot better for the 99%.