Gill Tract Protesters Disrupt Two Sprouts Supermarkets to Stop Development of Farmland

(South Bay) On May 30th, 2015, farmers and neighbors of the historic Gill Tract turned out to creatively disrupt business-as-usual at two Sprouts supermarkets. Their message to this corporate supermarket chain? "Don't build a Sprouts 'Farmer's Market' on our historic Gill Tract Farmland".

Protesters descended on the Fremont Sprouts store at around 2:30 pm. After entering the store posing as shoppers they began chanting loudly in unison using the "mic check" strategy made popular during the "Occupy" movement. In addition to this sonic disruption, protesters also distributed leaflets throughout the store and engaged shoppers and workers in dialogue concerning the struggle to save the Gill Tract (public farmland) from corporate development.

After store management called the police, protesters departed the Fremont store location and moved to the Mountain View Sprouts location. At around 3:30pm they went inside the store. At this location, the protesters ranks grew. They were joined inside the store by a marching band and protesters wearing bulldozer and vegetable costumes. The band drew much customer attention, and filled the store with music while the actors performed guerilla theatre depicting the harmful impact of a Sprouts' development on public farmland. Protesters were able to complete several songs, rounds of chants and mic check messages in the Mountain View store before the store management called police officers to the scene to remove them. The group marched out of the store in song but remained at the doors, holding a rally in front of the entrance to the store with several large banners and more songs and leafleting. There were no arrests.

The protesters' contend that Sprouts is about to pave over a rare natural resource - healthy soil for growing food in an urban area, and that the Gill Tract is public farmland that belongs to the people. They want food to be grown locally and made accessible for vulnerable populations rather than shipped from thousands of miles away and sold in a chain grocery store. They highlight the hypocrisy of Sprouts greenwashing itself by using “farmers market” as part of its name, while intending to destroy historic farmland to build its newest store. Even though Sprouts touts itself as a natural food store, much of the produce it carries are not organic nor local, and those that are are from big scale corporate farms.

Protesters also insist that the 20 acres of Gill Tract provide an important role in filtering air pollutants, mitigating climate change, and providing habitat for wildlife. The impacts of the University clearcut of 53 trees on the South side in February will be compounded if the soil and greenspace is graded, covered in concrete, and destroyed. The public health of the immediate area is at risk from this proposed development.


Quotes:

“Sprouts is not a Farmer’s Market. Using that name for a big-box supermarket is an insult to local farmers who are actually working to fix our broken food system.” – Hank Herrera, New Hope Farms & Gill Tract Farm Coalition

“We do not need another corporate supermarket giant that exploits its workers, especially not on public land. We need a real farmers market.” - Brooke Anderson, Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project

“Their failure to explore alternatives is a severe public health threat to the community. This area has long been known for its dangerous air pollution from the 580 and 80 freeways and the Pacific Steel Casting factory, which has led to high levels of asthma in the community. The EIR highlights that the proposed development would be bringing in 6,500 new cars per day on Monroe Street, right next to the village day care center, the little league fields, and Oceanview Elementary School. The EIR even states clearly that these traffic impacts cannot be mitigated. The only solution is a smaller project or none at all.”
– Vanessa Raditz, Master of Public Health Candidate, UC Berkeley


Background:

The Gill Tract is an approximately 20 acre plot of undeveloped public land owned by UC Berkeley and located in Albany, CA. Sprouts "Farmers Market" wants to pave over this historic farmland to build a chain grocery store. But farmers and supporters are demanding that all 20 acres of this valuable and rare natural resource be protected as an education and research center in urban agriculture and food justice, including a productive urban farm.

Despite almost 20 years of local organizing against commercial development, UC Berkeley continues to push for a chain grocery store and commercial retail space on the Gill Tract.

In April 2012, Occupy the Farm raised the profile of this 20-year community struggle by camping on the land and planting a publicly-accessible farm on the Gill Tract. Under pressure from community activists, Whole Foods pulled out of the proposed development, and instead opened two blocks south of the tract. Occupy the Farm helped win temporary protection for a portion of the land, some of which is now the vibrant Gill Tract Community Farm. Farmers hope to see this project expand to all remaining 20 acres of the historic farmland stewarded by the University of California, Berkeley for research and education for the public good.

In late February 2015, UC Berkeley cut down 53 trees in preparation for the construction of the new Sprouts store, despite an ongoing lawsuit regarding the projects’ Environmental Impact Report. Farmers and supporters want to see the land used for a community-university partnership exploring innovative solutions to problems in our food system.

On May 21st, students and community members disrupted a UC Regents meeting to announce facts about the environmental injustice of the UC Regents decision to pave and privatize the Gill Tract Farm. Protesters carried signs and chanted “We want produce, not privatization” while donning masks of UC President Napolitano.

Their spokespeople argued that the UC Regents’ decision to pave and privatize the Gill Tract Farm capitalizes on environmental injustices, sacrifices the health of vulnerable communities, and opposes the State of California’s policies and interests, such as SB 535, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Organizers vowed to build broad coalitional support for SCA 1 to give legislative oversight to UC Regents’ decisions.

Community members, students, and UC faculty have put forth an alternative proposal to use all twenty acres of the historic Gill Tract as a Center for Urban Agriculture and Food Justice, so that it could serve the UC’s mission of research and education for the public good, while also being a productive urban farm that provides food insecure students, workers, and community with access to affordable local produce. This proposal better aligns with UC President Napolitano’s new Global Food Initiative and new innovative state policies.