ANV Is Now the Steward of The West Oakland Farm Park, City Slicker Farms

Photos By Aliya Benudiz. All Rights Reserved.

Acta Non Verba and City Slicker Farms are excited to announce a collaborative, organizational merger! This partnership will expand on years of efforts to bring healthy, accessible, and culturally relevant food to urban communities struggling with systematically created food insecurity. Not only that, but it will also provide a fun new location for Camp ANV and other Youth Programming: The West Oakland Farm Park!

The Acta Non Verba Team are now the proud stewards to a new farm site: The West Oakland Farm Park. 

The West Oakland Urban Farm Park (WOFP) is 1.4 acre working urban farm, educational space, and outdoor recreation site located at 2847 Peralta St. in Oakland, CA. It was created and conceived by and for the 3,000 community members in the surrounding neighborhoods, and intended to be a focal point of community pride and activity for residents of West Oakland. It is a safe space for recreation and connects neighbors over the growing, preparing and sharing of food; promotes environmental conservation, serves as an example of how we can reclaim the ecological integrity of the land; and expand access to healthy foods for low income families in Oakland.

The Farm Park includes a number of features to increase environmental sustainability: drip irrigation, rainwater catchment, recycled and reused construction materials, native plants, organic cultivation methods, habitat for pollinators, growing food locally, environmental education programs, recycling and composting receptacles, a fruit orchard, chicken coop, and even a playground, outdoor classroom, lawn, and children’s garden! There is also an outdoor Demonstration Kitchen, where cooking classes, herbal remedy making, and other workshops are held. 

The site is a lush and productive farm with rows and rows of organic vegetable and fruit beds, as well as a dedicated herb garden where culinary and medicinal herbs are grown for utilization in workshops or for the Town Fridge. 

It is also a host site for The Town Fridge Collective, a group that was started to help support food insecure families in Oakland during the pandemic. The collective actions is rooted in the tradition of mutual aid, which emphasizes people helping people without hierarchy or shame. Mutual aid projects have proliferated in the wake of COVID-19 as the need for community members caring for each other has grown.

At the WOFP, thousands of pounds of food are grown each year in order to increase healthy food access to the community. They are able to stock the fridge with fresh produce we’ve grown, as well as contribute space and electricity for the fridge at the Farm Park. As always, first priority goes to unhoused, low- and fixed-income and BIPOC community members, as well as members of our Garden Program. However, any community members may drop off food and any community members may pick up food. Just outside the farm gates, you can find the 24hr Free Fridge, where neighbors can come pick up free produce that is grown on the farm. In 2021 alone, over 4,000 pounds of produce was grown and distributed for free via the Town Fridge program. 

In addition, the WOFP has a section dedicated to the Community Garden,which consists of 28 irrigated plots. This section was designed with West Oakland residents who do not have a space to grow food in mind. Gardeners can take advantage of the all the supplies and support at the Farm Park, including free soil, starts, trainings and workshops. 

Looking for a spot to host your next birthday, team meeting, family reunion, wedding, retreat or other event? The West Oakland Farm Park is a wonderful outdoor space to host a variety or events and meetings while also supporting food justice in Oakland! Learn more about renting the farm park HERE. 

Acta Non Verba is excited to support the ongoing development of this wonderful urban oasis. We are excited to work with the City Slicker Farms team to create an active and exciting farm space where our youth participants can reconnect with their food and the land with excitement, which in turn, will empower them to make healthier and more sustainable choices in their diet and beyond!

Together, we will continue to serve the Oakland community through a lens of public health, knowing that food accessibility is the first building block to healthy and thriving families. By continuing existing programming as well as developing new ones, this collaboration will maintain the common mission of providing a stable stream of accessible food to populations who need it most, as well as ensuring that safe urban green spaces are accessible to all. 

By combining the collective visions of ANV and CSF, we will create more opportunities for youth development, increase access to urban green space, and raise awareness of the powerful role of urban agriculture in our communities. With our collective resources, we will also be able to maintain long term, sustainable stewardship of the land that the West Oakland Farm Park occupies so that it may continue to serve the residents of West Oakland for years to come.

Learn more about the West Oakland Farm Park HERE!

Photos By Aliya Benudiz. All Rights Reserved.

Phat Beets CSA Program is Becoming ANV’s BeetBox CSA (Letter)

 

 

 

 

August 11,  2020

Dear Phat Beets Community,

We thank you for your support of the Beet Box CSA, and want to give our community an update on the future of the Beet Box.  Since 2011, you have supported so many of our programs, farmers and communities, with your donations, purchases, and your volunteer time. It is without a doubt you have been the engine that has kept our CSA program alive, and allowed us to fulfill our mission: connecting small farmers of color to flatland communities and creating equitable access to healthy affordable produce.  Phat Beets has decided to move forward with a transition of our Beet Box CSA to Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project (ANV).

Acta Non Verba is an organization based in East Oakland, focused on serving youth and their families through urban farming.  We are confident that ANV will use the Beet Box to increase food access, support our farmers, patients and families at La Clinica, and low income Beet Boxers. At the same time, all Beet Box CSA profits will be deposited into local youth’s educational savings accounts; bridging the generational wealth gap and saving for their individual educational pursuits. 

In hopes of making the program better than ever before, we’d really appreciate it if you complete a short survey (https://bit.ly/ANVBeetBoxSurvey) letting us know how we can make your CSA subscription even more enjoyable. 

Here are some fast facts you need to know:

  1. There will be a price increase for Full, Half, Fruit and Fruit, Honey, & Nut Shares starting September 1, 2020.
  2. All CSAs will be picked up at OMNI until deliveries begin again – we will reach out when they do.
  3. The missed pickup window for CSA shares is 10am-12pm the following day (Wednesday or Sunday). Any shares not picked up will be donated to a local women’s shelter.
  4. Emails will be responded to within 2-3 days.  For urgent questions, you can reach us at BeetBoxCSA@anvfarm.org or call 762-BEETBOX (762-233-8269).

The Beet Box CSA distribution will continue at the Omni Commons in North Oakland, and ANV will maintain offices at the Omni. The CSA program is currently in transition until August 24th- and we thank you for your patience as we undergo this exciting time.   

Now, more than ever, our communities need health, power, and solidarity. Lettuce turnip ‘dem beets! 

In Gratitude,

Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project

Phat Beets Produce

Our First Delivery to Mandela Foods Cooperative!

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Photos Courtesy of Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project | All Right Reserved

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Our After-School Program (ASP) made their first store delivery to Mandela Foods Cooperative Grocery Store, last week! Youth members participating in ASP pick fresh pineapple-guavas from our WOW Farm site. We walked them across the street and down the road from the farm, to our neighbors at Mandela Foods. There, we were warmly greeted by the coop workers’ and customers. What a great way to kick off this partnership!

Stop by Mandela Foods (1430 7th St, Oakland, CA 94607), get you some hand-picked pineapple guavas, and support your local coop today! ?????‍???‍?

WOW Farm is Now a Project of Acta Non Verba!

Photos By Aaron De La Cerda and Kahlil Johnson All Rights Reserved.

What is Wow Farm?

Wow Farm has operated in West Oakland for nearly 20 years and is now a project of Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project!

At Wow Farm we employ organic and natural farming methods to grow more than 20 varieties of microgreens, 7 herb varieties and 10 types of fruit.

We grow quality produce year-around and utilize raised mounds, drip irrigation, integrated pest management, and regularly amend our soil with organic compost, a portion of which is produced on site.  We sell & deliver our produce directly to local restaurants and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) customers around in and around Oakland.

In addition to our After School Program, Camp ANV’s Leaders In Training (LIT’s) now have another space to learn sustainable agriculture and and microenterprise!

Learn more about our CSA HERE!

Photos By Aaron De La Cerda and Kahlil Johnson All Rights Reserved.

Planet Bee Project 2017

We are so grateful to the Planet Bee Foundation for partnering with ANV the past 5 years! If you are lucky enough to receive ANV’s RAW Honey maybe in your CSA Subscription or as a Friend of the Farm gift, you can thank this wonderful organization! 

They work tirelessly to educate youth and adults about the importance of bees in our lives and our campers LOVE these hands on lessons!

Please do not use these photos without the express permission of Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project.

Parents: Registration is now OPEN for Camp ANV 2017!!

Camp ANV: Spring And Summer 2017 Registration Now Open!!

A Safe, Clean, EDUCATIONAL place to GROW! AND a TON of FUN!

Spring Break Mini-Camp:
April 3-7, 2017 from 8am-5pm*

Summer Camp ANV:
Session 1- June 19- July 14, 2017 Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm* (closed on the 4th of July)
Session 2- July 24- August 18, 2017 Mon-Fri 8am-5pm*

Located at Tassafaronga Recreation Center: 975 85th Ave. Oakland, CA 94621

Kick Off the fun of summer starting with our Spring Break Mini-Camp! Gardening, Swimming, Cooking, Fantastic Field Trips!! PLUS, Earn $$$**!!. All field trip costs, transportation and meals (Breakfast, Lunch and Snacks) included!

Register for Spring and Summer HERE then, Share The Love! Tell your Friends and Family about this AMAZING Camp!!

**Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project is planned, planted and harvested and sold by youth grades K-8 and 100% of proceeds are placed into individual savings accounts for those who participate.

*Before and After Care available for an additional $25/week (7:30am-6:00pm)

QUESTIONS? 510.878.7235

Harvesting for Cooking Club at Camp ANV!