On January 11, contractors with the UC administration began construction work on the southern portion of the Gill Tract, a historical farm sold to the University of California in 1928 under the condition it would be used for agricultural research and education. The UC is privatizing this section of the Gill Tract for the construction of a high-end senior assisted living facility by the Belmont Village corporation, alongside construction of a Sprouts supermarket and a parking lot.

The next day after working hours, about fifteen individuals entered the Gill Tract to remove surveying stakes marking the paths for the heavy machinery brought to pave over the last large-scale plot of high-quality urban farmland still available on the East Bay. The mobilization by the group Occupy the Farm was led by senior citizens from the community.

On January 28, farm defenders chained themselves to an excavator that was removing valuable topsoil. This halted a day of construction over the contested farmland. “We have tried every formal and institutional route for a more democratic decision on the fate of this land,” explains Gustavo Oliveira, a PhD student of geography at UC Berkeley and member of Occupy the Farm.

Farm defenders halt construction over farmland in the East Bay | Farm defenders disrupt destruction of farmland and inauguration of supermarket in the East Bay

Previous Related Indybay Feature: Indigenous Land Access Committee Holds Ongoing Ceremony on Gill Tract to Reclaim Land