Two Protestors Arrested at University Development Site

Two protesters from an agricultural advocacy group were arrested and cited for trespassing on Thursday for chaining themselves to construction equipment at a development project on a plot of land in Albany that’s owned by the University of California at Berkeley, the advocacy group said.

Jean Mortensen, one of the Occupy the Farm protesters who was cited and released by UC police, said in a statement, “We are putting our bodies on the line to halt construction and restart a public debate on the fate of this land.”

The other protester who was cited and released was Jean Yaste, according to the statement issued by Occupy the Farm. UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof confirmed today that about 15 people participated in the protest on Thursday on university-owned land along San Pablo Avenue at Monroe Street, near the University Village student housing complex, and that two people were arrested.

Mogulof said the site is adjacent to a site known as the Gill Tract, another plot of university-owned land that’s used by students and faculty of the College of Natural Resources for agricultural research. The Gill Tract has been the site of protests in recent years by Occupy the Farm activists who say the tract should be used for sustainable community farming. Occupy the Farm activists said they consider the area where the protest occurred to be the southern portion of the Gill Tract.

After seven years of reviews and public hearings, the Albany City Council voted unanimously in March 2014 to approve UC Berkeley’s plan for a commercial development that includes 175 acres of senior housing, a Sprout’s Farmers Market and two other retailers on 6.3 acres of university-owned land. Mogulof said some of the revenue from the development will fund university-sponsored urban farming at the nearby Gill Tract site.

Occupy the Farm activists said in their statement that they will “continue disrupting construction until the UC and its corporate partners, especially Sprouts, cancel their projects to pave over this valuable public asset.” They said they previously disrupted surveying work at the construction site and disrupted the first five days of the new Sprouts market in Oakland and have launched a campaign to boycott Sprouts.

Occupy the Farm officials said community members, students and UC faculty are proposing to use all of the Gill Tract “for the establishment of a public Center for Indigenous Foodways to research, restore and recreate indigenous food practices and cultures.”

By Bay City News