May 14, 2012: 12 years ago, May 14 2012, University of California police raided and [...]

12 years ago, May 14 2012, University of California police raided and destroyed an occupation of Albany’s Gill Tract, a 104-acre UC-owned property, arresting nine people. For a month, Occupy the Farm held and farmed the land, which was slated to be sold for private development

Activists had fought since 1997 to turn the Gill Tract into a center for sustainable urban agriculture but had been consistently blocked by the UC. On April 22, 2012, Occupy the Farm activists, aligned with the Occupy movement, decided to take the land over and farm it themselves

Occupiers chose the date of their occupation to coincide with Via Campesina’s International Day of Peasant Resistance. OTF saw itself as “a cross-pollination of Occupy and food justice movements,” and was in direct communication with Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement (MST)

Occupy the Farm had established about 70 planted rows, a seed library, chicken coops, and a lady-bug patch for children during the month-long occupation. Activists also hosted a number of teach-ins and educational events

On May 14, police raided and trashed the farm, although occupations continued on-and-off in the following years. In 2014, the UC turned the northern part of Gill Tract into a community farm, while the southern section has since been developed into a grocery store

Today, the UC Gill Tract Community Farm runs various programs and workshops, operates a sliding-scale farm stand, and hosts community events. You can get involved with the farm and explore more on their website: https://t.co/g6NnLOEi6v