In 2015, following Project GROW’s success in the Penn-York Valley, the participants of Reinhabitory Institute held two salons, to consider fresh direction for the organization at the close of our first five years.
Project GROW, west
We affirm our strong interest in growing food, textile plants and medicines. We believe in the value of working with kids.
On—the—ground
- A collaboration with East Bay Waldorf School is allowing us to grow indigo, flax and quinoa, based on our interests.
- An opportunity to plant in the Gill Tract Community Farm, formerly the Occupy the Farm in Berkeley, will allow us to diversify beyond the East Bay Waldorf space.
- Proximity of many teaching gardens in the Bay Area provides collaborative support:
- Berkeley School System teaching gardens,
- UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens,
- organic production gardens of Green Gulch, Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, College of Marin’s Indian Valley Farm,
- Urban farms of the Bay Area create a fertile atmosphere of awareness/participation.
Our salons observed that the Bay Area is oversaturated with food justice groups. An opportunity exists to collaborate with rural groups in the central valley to organize around the principles demonstrated by Project GROW and others.