Mapping

Urban Agricultures Potential

in Alameda County

The issue, in other words, is no longer whether the public should have a say
in technical decisions, but how to promote more meaningful interaction
among policy-makers, scientific experts, corporate producers, and the
public. Shelia Jasanoff, Technologies of Humility (2007)
The goal of this collaborative project is to
maintain a centralized database that tracks
and monitors Alameda County land that is
either currently under agricultural
production or could potentially be brought
into agricultural production. Citizens,
NGOs, and city planners will then be able to
interface with the information to make
democratically informed decisions
regarding land use in the County. Urban
farms and gardens can provide residents of
Alameda County with fresh, healthy, local
fruits and vegetables while also creating
green spaces that support physical, mental,
and community health.
Several groups are participating in this
project. The University of Californias
Cooperative Extension in Alameda County,
Oakland Food Policy Council, and UC
Berkeley Department of Environmental
Science, Policy, and Management are
WEB
eastbayfoodmapping.weebly.com

working together to develop participatory

maps using input from Alameda County
citizens. These will provide tools for urban
agriculture groups and individual urban
farmers and gardeners. Participatory maps
can be a tool to collaboratively generate
new food system knowledge with scholars,
practitioners, and producers working in
tandem. This process can illuminate caches
of community-based knowledge that are
often overlooked in traditional map-
building processes.
As of 2015, the project is in its early stages
of development. Please visit
eastbayfoodmapping.org to find more
information and update. You can use this
website for questions, comments, or
concerns about the project. We are excited
by the potential for urban agriculture in
Alameda County and hope for this project
to support its growth in an equitable
manner.

COLLABORATORS
UC Berkeley, UC ANR Alameda County,
Oakland Food Policy Council, & Alameda
County Citizens