Members of Occupy Cal, along with other Occupy protesters from the Bay Area, marched from Berkeley to a UC Berkeley-owned farm in Albany on Sunday afternoon with plans to set up an Earth Day encampment.
After listening to speakers from various Occupy movements including Occupy San Francisco, Occupy Cal and Occupy Oakland, over 100 protesters marched from Ohlone Park to Gill Tract Farm in Albany at 1 p.m., according to UC Berkeley senior and Occupy Cal protester Navid Shaghaghi.
Protesters said they are tilling the land, pulling out weeds and planting seeds in an effort to thwart attempts by the UC to develop a Whole Foods Market, senior center and parking lot on the land, which is located near the campus-owned family housing complex University Village.
After years of planning between the city and the UC, the Albany City Council approved the development of the project in January.
But protesters said that by developing a supermarket on the land, the UC is detering attempts by city and campus community members to use the site for agricultural education.
“We are honoring Earth Day and taking back land that has been abandoned,” Shaghaghi said. “We are planting all types of different plants and we have chickens.”