Oakland Food Policy Council

By Beth Sanders and Colleen Lynch

This may be a different kind of garden party than you are used to; the garden party recently held at POWER’s Mission office was a working garden party. Last year POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights), a San Francisco based racial justice organization, partnered with Movement Generation and Bay Localize to create its own rooftop garden. Since last August they have been growing a number of fruits, vegetables, and herbs that are shared with staff and POWER community members.

The rooftop garden needed some remodeling, so a party of volunteers was called on to help with the reconstruction. There was work to be done in making smaller garden boxes that will be better supported by the roof’s structure. From re-shoveling and redistributing soil to drilling together boxes and their wheels, it was quite an undertaking. Once the garden is ready, POWER has plans to grow corn, beans, squash, and tomatoes over the coming months. The ultimate goal of having the rooftop garden is to host a community member farmers’ market where their produce will be shared with local residents. This can also provide a venue for cultural exchange between POWER members organizing around increased access to healthy foods in their own neighborhoods.

Volunteers construct new garden boxes on POWER's rooftop.

Urban Gardening as a Tool to Increase Access to Healthy Foods

Alicia Garza, POWER’s co-executive director, is proud of the organization’s history of fighting against environmental racism in neighborhoods such as Bayview Hunters Point, located near the San Francisco airport. Injustice in this predominantly African-American community is evident as the average family earns $15,000 per year and the neighborhood has the highest asthma and cancer rates in the area due to contamination of toxic waste from the Naval shipyard, the City’s powerplant, and a nearby trash incinerator. According to Garza, POWER’s recent efforts in promoting urban gardening in Bayview are “…offering alternatives, which has proved to be the easiest way to bring about change. With these efforts, we are seeing things go the way that they should be in the community.” During the afternoon portion of the garden rooftop party, Jerio Lee—a resident Bayview Hunters Points and POWER organizer—was asked if he has witnessed any efforts to increase local access to healthy foods, such as corner store conversion projects that increase fresh produce inventories. Lee’s response was unforgettable: “The only thing happening like that is when corner stores are converted into dollar stores. In Bayview, there is not a single grocery store within the neighborhood, so POWER’s new focus on establishing community gardens is important.”

Volunteers and POWER's Co-executive director, Alicia Garza (right), begin to fill a raised bed container with soil.

A Synergy Among Diverse Organizing Networks

The POWER rooftop garden party demonstrates collaboration between a variety of networks with diverse goals, yet they are working together to achieve environmental change throughout the Bay area. Bay Localize is working towards a localization agenda for the region, with food and energy as just part of its focus. Their Use Your Roof! Project continues to have success in transforming rooftops on both sides of the Bay into efficient sources of energy, food, and water. The Green Rooftop Alliance is another emerging group promoting similar projects, which helped to recruit volunteers for the POWER Rooftop Garden Party.

Sara Camp cuts through a plastic lining used to hold soil in the rooftop gardenbeds. She is the U.S.campaign manager with the climate-change actionorganization 350.org