The Faith-Based Urban Farmer

Berman, who directed a Jewish retreat cen­ter where he founded a sim­i­lar fel­low­ship in Connecticut before relo­cat­ing to Berkeley, got a lucky break when landowner Wareham Development agreed to host the farm rent-free for two years. Hence, the portable feel to the project: The farm has dozens of raised, mov­able pro­duce pal­lets, green­houses, a cob oven, chicken coops on wheels, and large tents that serve as class­rooms. Everything on the prop­erty could be trans­ported with rel­a­tive ease, if a new loca­tion proves nec­es­sary. Raised beds filled with fresh, organic soil also solves the prob­lem of con­t­a­m­i­nated soil on the prop­erty, a for­mer print­ing press site.

The res­i­dent fel­lows serve as hands-on farm edu­ca­tors for local school chil­dren and com­mu­nity mem­bers and intern with nearby social jus­tice orga­ni­za­tions ded­i­cated to address­ing poverty, food secu­rity, and envi­ron­men­tal stewardship.

The pro­gram also seeks to fill a void by dis­trib­ut­ing healthy food in under-resourced neigh­bor­hoods. It pro­vides classes on rais­ing chick­ens and palate-bed build­ing to bud­ding urban farm­ers and holds lec­tures, work­shops, film screen­ings, and farm cel­e­bra­tions that are attended by peo­ple of all ages and reli­gious affiliations.

Q. Why Urban Adamah?

A. I think of Urban Adamah as Adamah 2.0. It has the immer­sive, pro­gres­sive Jewish and envi­ron­men­tal com­po­nent that we devel­oped in Connecticut [at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center] but adds the social jus­tice and com­mu­nity edu­ca­tion piece. The farm in Connecticut is an hour from the clos­est city. Only a few hun­dred peo­ple visit each year. In our first year in Berkeley, a few thou­sand peo­ple came to our farm for com­mu­nity and envi­ron­men­tal edu­ca­tion events. In Connecticut all the food we grew we ate our­selves or sold at retail. Urban Adamah is about grow­ing food for those in need. Ninety per­cent of what we grow we give away.

Q. Why Berkeley?

A. In many ways the Bay Area is the epi­cen­ter of the national food move­ment, and at the same time it’s a micro­cosm of the dis­par­i­ties of the rich and poor with regards to food access and food jus­tice. You can buy $13 organic fair trade local choco­late bars in Berkeley but can’t find actual toma­toes in neigh­bor­hoods in West Oakland, where there isn’t one full-service gro­cery store. On a per­sonal note, Berkeley feels like home to me.

Q. Can you give a run­down of what the farm has accom­plished since it started?

A. Well, we con­structed the fully portable farm from start to fin­ish from February through August. We ran two fel­low­ship pro­grams with 24 fel­lows. We ran joy­ful pro­grams in part­ner­ship with more than 20 local Jewish orga­ni­za­tions. We pro­vided four weeks of sum­mer camp for 80 chil­dren and one-time edu­ca­tional pro­grams for loads of local stu­dents. We cel­e­brated each of the major Jewish hol­i­days with community-wide farm events. And we pro­duced more than 3,000 pounds of pro­duce and dis­trib­uted it through our free farm stand, food banks, and com­mu­nity groups. It was a busy year.

Q. How impor­tant is the spir­i­tual com­po­nent to the farm’s success?

A. It’s huge: The heart-mind-body tri­fecta informs every­thing we do. We believe that real change can’t hap­pen in the world with­out being per­son­ally grounded and clear in each of these areas.

Click here to read the rest of this arti­cle at Grist.org.