[Chapter_Fourteen] the fence is connected to something that never ends

[Booka]

Grateful greetings,

This is my first foray into this listserv and I am very grateful indeed that
we can engage in continuing discissions on how to extend People Care, Earth
Care and Fair Share to our brothers and sisters here and away, wherever away
takes us.

I am finding Jay's history of the fenceline, and Jason's civic-minded 24/7
solutions and Vanessa's plea for help sooner rather than later to strike
deep chords. I have never found needles myself, but I have heard the ongoing
discussions on-site at HVF for months, and mainly listened. I know the
fenceline has been opened, manipulated and trespassed for years. When I see
one of our volunteers relaxing in a hammock and swinging rhythmically back
and forth on a workday, it makes me realize how similar we are to the many
people who have utilized the same land we are enjoying- covorting with
friends, looking for something to keep them warm for a few more hours until
they need to be somewhere, reaching through the ivy for a shoe or a glove
they kicked off before dozing off... besides the IV drug use, or perhaps
even prostitution, which hasn't been discussed, what the larger discussion
should address is safety. What percentage of the nighttime inhabitants are
drug users, engaging in criminal activity, or mentally ill (a disease that
may come with another set of potential risks). How can we possibly find
solutions when we are not certain of the probem at hand?

The sit/lie law passing recently is cause for alarm. Its a signal that "we"
the majority don't want to take any responsibility for the plight of our
brothers and sisters in need. It is a sign that its ok to turn our backs. I
have been reading Jane Jacobs lately. On accountability... forgive the long
quote please, I cannot think of a better way to state this, so I grabbed the
entire excerpt. Some personal ideas follow.

"[city] Planners do not seem to realize how high a ratio of adults is needed
to rear children at incidental play. Nor do they seem to understand that
spaces and equipment do not rear children. These can be useful adjuncts, but
only people rear children and assimilate them into civilized society. It is
folly to build cities in a way that wastes this normal, casual manpower for
child rearing and either leaves this essential job too much undone - with
terrible consequences- or makes it necessary to hire substitutes. The myth
that playgrounds and grass and hired guards or supervisors are innately
wholesome for children and that city streets, filled with ordinary people,
are innately evil for children, boils down to a deep contempt for ordinary
people.
     In real life, only from the ordinary adults of the city sidewalks do
children learn- if they learn at all- the first fundamental of successful
city life: People must take a modicum of public responsibility for each
other even if they have no ties to each other. This is a lesson nobody
learns by being told. It is learned from the experience of having *other
people without ties of kinship or close friendship or formal responsibility
to you *take a modicum of public responsibility for you.
...."The lesson that city dwellers have to take responsibility for what goes
on in city streets is taught again and again to children on sidewalks which
enjoy a local public life. They can absorb it astonishingly early. They show
they have absorbed it by taking it for granted that they, too, are part of
the management. They volunteer (before they are asked) directions to people
who are lost; they tell a man he will get a ticket if he parks where he
thinks he is going to park; they offer unsolicited advice to the building
superintendent to use rock salt instead of a chopper to attack the ice. The
presence or absence of this kind of street bossiness in city children is a
fairly good tip-off to the presence or absence of responsible adult behavior
toward the sidewalk and the children who use it. The children are immitating
adult attitudes. This has nothing to do with income. Some of the poorest
parts of cities do the best by their children in this respect. And some do
the worst."
- The Death and Life of Great American Cities
page 82-83

I have seen friends pick up the Sharps box with dirty needles, and walk it
to the local Walgreens to drop off. There are many other examples where we
have taken personal accountability toward a means of better safety for our
volunteers and students onsite. When I see volunteers doing this, its struck
me as something akin to picking up a stranger's poop off the sidewalk in a
plastic bag. There is nothing fun about dirty needles, and yet we have to
face our present reality that this unpleasantness is not subsidiing as
quickly as one would hope.

What we have done right: Add beauty outside our fenceline. The sidewalk
never ends. I believe that we should follow the pattern we set on the
Western edge of the farm, where the Laguna Gates sit at our "official
entryway," and we should honor the other edges similarly, and as a priority.
We should give energy to the land on the outside of our fences, with the
greatest number of people- encouraging new and veteran volunteers, old and
young, students and teachers, and most of all - children. I believe when
passerby and residents begin to see our edges along Oak and near Hickory
street transformed, it could bring new appreciation from neighbors and
potential allies. I believe we should rehang the kids posters along the
fenceline, too, I am not sure what kind of shape they are in. Finally I
believe we should continuously be vocal about a need for better nighttime
streetlights, from Neighborhood Empowerment Network, Better Streets
Programs, Neighborhood Associations in Hayes Valley and Lower Haight and
anyone that will listen and care. And as another route (this may be
devisive), we should ask friends in the local police department such as
Captain Ann Mannix, to occasionally make random visits INSIDE the fenceline
at night, to help educate us on who the night-time visitors are, so we can
better assess what to do next inside the fenceline.

What we should be careful about: If we contact LBGT for support, or other
groups, my thought is we should ask for guidance and support, as we try to
heal our own edges. We should not "outsource" this dilemma to any one
advocacy group, but rather reach out to several who can each help guide us
in different ways, as WE try to take our own sidewalks and improve them,
make them safer and make the edges where metal meets concrete, more human
and more personal.

What we might be able to do more of: create more benches within our site.
Vantage points provide perspective that low-lying nooks and clover-carpets
may not. High-perched areas provide people with appreciation for what we are
doing. You shouldn't have to carry a shovel or come to a workday to
appreciate the beauty and diversity that breathes inside our fenceline.
Although it is barbed wire on top, it is also transparent all along the
surface.

booka


Today's Topics:

>
>   1. Re: the fence (Antonio Roman-Alcala)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 11:44:55 -0800
> From: Antonio Roman-Alcala <antidogmatist at gmail.com>
> To: "Chapter Fourteen: Where abundant food and human cultures
>        intersect"      <chapter_fourteen-beforebefore.net@
> lists.beforebefore.net>
> Subject: Re: [Chapter_Fourteen] the fence
> Message-ID:
>        <AANLkTimjSJ2jLV3Lb7ZY-5SJ-vXR9hAZ45pp73atnn7+ at mail.gmail.com<AANLkTimjSJ2jLV3Lb7ZY-5SJ-vXR9hAZ45pp73atnn7%2B at mail.gmail.com>
> >
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
>
> Hello all-
>
> So it sounds like people are in favor of a policy of not forwarding emails
> from the list. I'm fine with this, but I don't feel like it has been
> explained well exactly why this policy is necessary, or why expanding the
> networks of communication regarding these topics is harmful to our cause.
>
> I completely understand the problem when people bring in outside
> organizations to a current project without accountability or regard to
> pre-existing project decision-making processes. However, I want to
> reiterate
> my perspective that asking people with expertise and resources to connect
> to
> other folks desiring of those resources is not the same thing (I didn't ask
> Megan to come to Hayes Valley Farm to intervene in the "homeless/IV issue",
> I told her that some communication w HVF might be of service). Also, in the
> same email to Megan, I invited her to join the list conversation, as she is
> a local gardening activist with much experience and interest in the social
> side of urban farming. So would it have been less uncouth if she had just
> signed on and read the same emails from our archives? If so, what is the
> difference? Is this list public or not? I was (since invited to it and told
> to invite others) under the impression that is was public.
>
> I'm just looking for clarification, since I see a big part of the work I do
> as connecting people to people and organizations to each other. And if this
> is seen as detrimental, I'd like to know why. (Wouldn't a connection to
> another local gardening/sustainability/social justice organization be
> beneficial to HVF regardless of this specific situation?) If it's just a
> matter of process, and that we should just keep emails on the thread,
> that's
> okay, but similarly I'd like to know why. If it's a matter of the email
> "falling into the wrong hands", who are those whose hands we are avoiding?
> And why? If it's a matter of keeping anonymity, to what end? And if so,
> perhaps the format of this list isn't anonymous enough for folks, and a
> wiki
> or some other format might be more appropriate.
>
> Also, one last point: I still think that talking to the people who are seen
> as using HVF at night, whether drug users or homeless or both, is the most
> crucial step towards dealing with this issue.
>
> All the best, and I hope my contributions haven't been too upsetting,
> Antonio
> On Sat, Nov 13, 2010 at 1:12 PM, Starhawk <stella at mcn.org> wrote:
>
> >  I also agree with a policy of not forwarding emails without the
> > permission of the writer.  But bear in mind that nonetheless, anything
> you
> > put in an email can potentially end up anywhere?I?ve had one turn up in
> > court in discovery around a lawsuit!
> >
> > As for the needle problem, a couple of suggestions:
> > --Yes, a drop box would probabably be appreciated and used.  Might not
> > entirely solve the problem but would help.  Department of Health could
> > provide them.  Drug users?like everyone?appreciate people who treat them
> > with some respect.
> > --Go talk to the folks who run the nearby needle exchange.  They will
> > probably have some good ideas of how to deal with the problem.  Other
> > resources?street mediators from local agencies?Huckleberry House has them
> > but may have changed its name.
> >
> > Okay, more later, Starhawk
> >
> >
> >
> > On 11/13/10 9:04 AM, "margaretha haughwout" <xmargarethax at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > dear all,
> >
> > i think we just built a fence!
> >
> > as an administrator of the list, it would be my personal policy not to
> fwd
> > writing. i can certainly add this sentiment in the welcome letter. to be
> > clear though, we are always taking a risk in an email list that our
> thoughts
> > and sentiments could be exposed to unknown forces. members of PHC or a
> > relevant org could already be lurking here. the archives can also be
> found
> > here:
> >
> http://lists.beforebefore.net/pipermail/chapter_fourteen-beforebefore.net/iam inclined to keep them accessible.
> >
> > antonio and starhawk, thank you for offering to help. i think many
> members
> > of our community would like to hear about what is possible.
> >
> > best,
> > /m
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 5:42 PM, Rachel A. Buddeberg <rachel at rabe.org>
> > wrote:
> >
> > My point exactly, so definitely agreed! Thanks for bringing this up
> again,
> > Jason!
> >
> > Rachel
> >
> > On Nov 12, 2010, at 4:33 PM, Jason Hiller wrote:
> >
> > I agree that no-one should feel free to forward anything stated on the
> > threads to anyone outside of the threads in the future. Being personally
> > identifiable by our email addresses really makes this a sensitive issue.
> >
> > If this can't be adhered to then I personally can't be comfortable
> > participating further. No harm with that move it seems but better to draw
> > that boundary now or at least confront it if there is opposition to this
> > notion.
> >
> > Agreed?
> >
> > On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 11:23 AM, Antonio Roman-Alcala <
> > antidogmatist at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Levi-
> > Excuse me. All I was doing was following up on the interest expressed (in
> > this thread, by many HVF participants) to connect with Project Homeless
> > Connect and Growing Home Community Garden. Knowing someone very involved
> in
> > those projects, I figured to make the connection. I didn't tell Megan,
> the
> > director of GHCG, what to do or anything; just let her know that there
> was
> > interest from HVF for support on this issue and that she may want to get
> in
> > contact with HVF-ers to begin a dialog.
> >
> > I never spoke "for" HVF.
> >
> > I sincerely hope this is not seen as un-called for.
> > -Antonio
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 8:44 AM, Levi Maxwell <levisiah at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >  Antonio: Who are you to speak for Hayes Valley Farm; I personally am
> > offended by this as a homeless individual who has been with HVF for
> several
> > month now. It is this sort of thing I had hoped would be worked out in
> this
> > forum; that is a general consensus would be made before calling other
> > organizations.
> >
> >  There is a disconnect that people have for some reason; you are not
> > helping getting a middle man involved esp. before we talk to the
> squatters
> > (Though in actuality HVF are the squatters who took the homes of the
> former
> > community before gentrification, urban renewal, and "Green"
> establishments
> > came about).
> >
> > On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 9:19 PM, Vanessa Roland <
> vanessa.roland at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > I do not have time to write much but am finding this thread very
> > interesting and love all of the comments, ideas, and breaking of
> > stereotypes. As a youth educator at HVF, I find the needles to be a
> > hazardous and ongoing problem that we are desperate to find solutions to
> > sooner rather than later. We have been working with mostly small children
> > who pick up any and everything they find onsite, especially the unusual.
> So
> > one of our tasks as educators is to survey the farm for needles and
> traces
> > of needle use before any of our classes. This is hard to do on such a
> large
> > area and with so many places for things to hide although one of the usual
> > places we find needles is the area near our classroom. We have discussed
> > whether putting up signs saying children's garden or space might deter
> the
> > usage and disposal, but I'm not sure that is really enough.
> >
> > I think reaching out to others in the neighborhood and community is a
> great
> > avenue as I know it is an issue in other areas of the neighborhood. I
> have
> > friends with a small child who live a couple blocks away and consistently
> > find needles on the street which they find very disturbing. I also
> believe
> > needles are found at Patricia's Green nearby and in various areas along
> > Octavia. I think part of the reason for so many needles in the vicinity
> is
> > the clean needle exchange nearby. I believe it is at the LGBT Community
> > Center on Market and Octavia. Maybe they are a community to reach out to
> as
> > well for ideas. I have the same question as Rachel about drop boxes. Once
> > going through all this effort to get high, will someone make the effort
> to
> > dispose of the needle properly? and how is it monitored? I know very
> little
> > about all of this so do not feel able to adequately answer these
> questions
> > or develop clear solutions but am very open to learning, collaborating,
> and
> > outreach to make the situation better for all.
> >
> > I would love to not be fearful each time we have children onsite that
> they
> > might reach into a patch of squash or broccoli and find a needle.
> >
> > There is an elderly homeless man that I see frequently near the farm whom
> I
> > believe sleeps in or near often. I find him to be friendly when I walk by
> > and feel he might be a good person to reach out to for more information
> > about what happens at night. Has anyone talked with him yet?
> >
> > Vanessa
> >
> > On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 11:47 AM, Rachel A. Buddeberg <rachel at rabe.org>
> > wrote:
> >
> > A couple of thoughts:
> >
> > * If people come onto the Farm to use drugs, will they really use the
> > needle drop boxes?  This is an honest question - I don't know, though it
> > would seem odd to me that someone scales a fence, shoots up illegal
> drugs,
> > and then is orderly enough to dispose of their needle... Plus, there's a
> > question of trust - is someone monitoring the drop box?
> > * Is needle sharing still an issue?  I know this is a totally different
> can
> > of worms but offering clean/sterile needles might be a need, too.
> > * I very much liked Shannon's suggestion of working with Project Homeless
> > Connect, especially given their background! I think this City is in
> > desperate need of rethinking how we treat our homeless neighbors.
> >
> > Rachel
> >
> >
> > On Nov 11, 2010, at 11:01 AM, Jason Hiller wrote:
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > I just read the thread from start to now. Going back to the conversation
> > about the fence seems most useful. There is a general principle I'm sure
> we
> > all know that when you are in an argument or disagreement with someone
> the
> > best way to disarm them is to accept them.
> >
> > The fence is ragged. If it weren't for the children's posters hanging
> from
> > them I think the farm would look more like a private place to me than a
> > public place. Well, it still seems private and I think that is okay
> because
> > there are commodities and things of value on the inside even if it is all
> of
> > us that owns that stuff.
> >
> > The thing about crime is that you have to ultimately decide how much
> crime
> > prevention is going to be apart of your life. If someone wants to commit
> a
> > crime there is truly very little you can do to stop them. If they want to
> > break in to your home or car the chances are that they are going to do
> it.
> >
> > Exactly which parts are we identifying as criminal here- or maybe a
> better
> > phrase is disagreeable to the site. I think IV drug use is a concern and
> I
> > could totally understand why Friend 2 decided to call whether you liked
> it
> > or not. I have put my hands into the broccoli patch and harvested before
> > anyone told me to be on the lookout for such a thing. I would be very
> upset
> > to say the least if I got stuck by a needle. IV drug use transmits
> diseases
> > and it is a very serious issue that you can't deliberate on too long. I'd
> > hate to see a resolution wait until after someone gets hurt.
> >
> > But other than that, do we care if people make use of the land? Do we
> have
> > obligations to prevent such access?
> >
> > I would propose two things to help make a solution. One- create an open,
> > 24/7 public access to the site almost in a plaza-like feel. This gives
> > people who need a place to sleep the ability to take advantage of it in
> > non-destructive ways. Accept them instead of make them scale the fence.
> > Greater access would have the benefit of letting the people who respect
> the
> > fence enter. In other words, the people that are jumping the fence are
> the
> > people that already don't mind acting criminally (although whether that
> is
> > criminal is up to debate).
> >
> > The second thing I would propose is, yes put in needle drop boxes. I
> would
> > be surprised if with a few phone calls to the Health Department if they
> > wouldn't come out and give you what you need and organize the pick up of
> > them too. It is a bio-hazard and I think it really best to let
> professionals
> > deal with the collection and removal. But more importantly, how do you
> offer
> > encouragement, support and information to users so they reconsider. A
> simple
> > sign that gets the message of "if you are going to use here, at least
> follow
> > these safety steps" could do wonders to reaching those folks so that they
> > become aware that their actions, while not judging them, are causing
> others
> > great concern.
> >
> > I'd be interested in helping figure out plans for these things if they
> seem
> > viable to the larger farm group.
> >
> > On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 2:17 AM, margaretha haughwout <
> > xmargarethax at gmail.com> wrote:
> > hi all,
> >
> > i've been staying silent on here in the hope we might get some new voices
> > on this thread. this thread has initiated several conversations for me
> > outside of this list, one on one, which has been very interesting.
> >
> > one thing that has been gently pointed out to me is that the iv users are
> > not necessarily the homeless. they could easily be rich and unable to use
> at
> > home. i think i sort of conflated the two initially. i appreciate that i
> was
> > shown this, and that the showing was so gentle.
> >
> > and thank you rachel, these suggestions are very good. one of the
> > intentions behind starting this list was for people - newly forming
> farms,
> > gardens, and other groups - to get practical advice from people who have
> > experience working with alternative models of governance, economy, labor,
> > human relationship, etc. there are maybe 50 people on this list at this
> > point, and i'm hoping it will grow and that we can continue to advise
> each
> > other on good practices as well as helping to clarify the issues as a few
> > good friends have done offline in the past couple of days.
> >
> > clearly, we have a lot of work to do in terms of building relationships
> and
> > trust across the border between day and night. i look forward to this
> work.
> >
> > i hope folks will continue to pipe in here. i'd love to further the
> > discussion about written contracts. very curious about this debate rachel
> > and i began, and hope someone might elaborate on peoples or practices
> that
> > are successful that don't have written contracts.
> >
> > also continue to be curious about any suggestions we might have for
> working
> > with the nighttime community on site and more generally, accountability
> > structures that facilitate response - ability to the land and to the city
> > (and to each other - !)
> >
> > best wishes,
> > /m
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 12:18 PM, Rachel A. Buddeberg <rachel at rabe.org>
> > wrote:
> > I agree that we'd have to tread carefully when involving outside
> agencies.
> >  HOT might be out because it's a City organization (though there might be
> > people working for HOT who have "I wish we could" ideas that go beyond
> the
> > standard way of thinking...).  The reason I suggested talking to other
> > organizations is to learn from them.  Maybe some of them have figured out
> > ways to address issues like addiction.  But I think the most important
> > people to get involved in these discussions are the homeless themselves,
> so
> > that Portland organization might be a good org to reach out to (
> > http://www.dignityvillage.org/).  Maybe also Street Sheet (
> > http://cohsf.org/streetsheet/).  Reaching out would be just to get ideas
> > for potential solutions...
> >
> > On Nov 7, 2010, at 6:47 PM, Levi Maxwell wrote:
> >
> >  I feel that this issue is not only a farm issue but a city-wide issue as
> > well.
> >
> >  I will not agree with any banning or invasion of an individuals home;
> HVF
> > has for two decades been the workspace and living space for many people
> left
> > with very few options in a city that cares only somewhat for Homeless
> people
> > under 24 and women with children (Which is important as we are more
> likely
> > to need special services that plague our demographic).
> >
> >  It is my belief in harm reduction as well as inter-community dialogue
> that
> > the inhabitants and Farmworkers can come to a resolution.
> >
> > However I have no romantic notions about this; mental illness is rampant
> in
> > my community, esp. in the camper community who either because of the
> > feelings they have towards the shelter system or simply not understanding
> > what is best for their health choose to live literally in the streets
> (the
> > vast majority do not). There will be drunks, there will be
> heroin/meth/crack
> > addicts, there will be people with mental disabilities; but if  we can
> work
> > with everyone even with the cultural gaps of two disparate groups
> (because
> > there are many cultures that belongs to homeless people) we can come up
> with
> > something.
> >
> >  HVF must stand together with a single voice and come to a conclusion
> that
> > can be agreed upon, so that there won't be some individuals calling
> police
> > or disregarding new ground rules. We must not come off as saviors;
> neithier
> > should we push our beliefs of what is right for them (that is alternative
> > living situations); only suggestions.
> >
> >  Long term goals like building up security or breaking down the fence, I
> > feel is too soon  to think about because we should make sure the
> demographic
> > discussed is the one doing damage.
> >
> >  Right now a few feet away the staff and clients of a youth runaway house
> I
> > am living at are talking about misidentification. We know the neighbors
> for
> > the most part don't like or want us here (even though this building in
> one
> > form or another has been a emergency home for 20 years and most residents
> > have been here less then 5-10 years) and we have to be on our P's and Q's
> > when outside because any time anyone who looks young makes noise or
> trouble
> > we get blamed, putting our housing and future housing in this building
> and
> > other buildings around the city for us in jeopardy.
> >
> >  The sons and daughters/students of this now gentrified, priviledged,
> > & "hip" neighborhood walk around drunk, yelling at people, screaming,
> > creating noise, yet we a demographic in need of services the most and
> > understand our placement in these surrounding people's minds get blamed.
> > Phone calls and complaints come to the program manager and he has to
> > decipher out what was us and what was them (Even  though he can't know
> since
> > he is never here in the building itself).
> >
> >  So remember think about what HVF does before we call any outside
> > organizations or people; some folks just want to live their life and
> thread
> > lightly and the ones who don't, those are the ones *we *need to speak to.
> >
> > On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 6:03 PM, margaretha haughwout <
> > xmargarethax at gmail.com> wrote:
> > dear rachel and everyone.
> >
> > thanks so much for writing and offering your insights and feedback.
> >
> > a few brief responses with yes more to follow:
> >
> > sorry to link to the google doc; i mean to link to this:
> > http://www.sfgov2.org/index.aspx?page=2041
> >
> > and no, we don't have a fixed decision making process at the farm right
> > now, beyond the small groups that we at times work within. i work within
> a
> > few small groups at the farm. the one i work most actively within goes by
> > consensus with the bigger decisions, and a conversation- based ad-hoc
> style
> > for the smaller decisions. to be clear, the ad-hoc nature at the farm
> that i
> > described with the friends as an example has many advantages. it means we
> > can respond very quickly in some circumstances and act with some freedom.
> > i'm not necessarily arguing against it... is there someway we can have
> both
> > consensus and ad-hoc? i worked as a gardener for over a decade, mostly
> with
> > women; we would deliberate about what to do about an apple tree for a
> while,
> > and then one of us would make a move. similar things seem to be happening
> at
> > the farm, though there are more people, and not everyone is consulted on
> any
> > given issue. i'm sure you can imagine there are some circumstances that
> > arise where this may be more of a problem...
> >
> > in regards to Diana Leafe Christian, i'm so glad you brought her up. i
> was
> > hoping she would figure here. to be honest, i'm wary of written
> documents,
> > since they've been so successful of robbing native peoples of their land.
> > have you heard criticisms of the written document? what are the pros and
> > cons? what do non-literate cultures do?
> >
> > all the best wishes,
> > /m
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 3:54 PM, Rachel A. Buddeberg <rachel at rabe.org>
> > wrote:
> > Wow!  There is lot to digest here, so I am only going to respond with
> some
> > initial thoughts, probably more questions/reaction that I had when
> reading
> > these...
> >
> > Sit/Lie passed on Tuesday.  To me this shows that the majority of the
> > voting City does not want to see homeless.  Homeless remind us of the
> > inequality we've created in this land of plenty where some don't even
> have a
> > place to sit or sleep or wash.  To me this means that the farm represents
> a
> > real opportunity to show that things can be different.  But it also means
> > the prevailing winds we have to deal with: Homeless are mostly seen as a
> > nuisance not as human beings with needs.
> >
> > As I was walking from the Farm yesterday to one of the cafes to use the
> > restroom, I watched a homeless guy comb his beard and hair.  He seemed
> > strangely dignified, as he was doing something so usual to us  - trying
> to
> > maintain a resemblance of dignity in a very humiliating situation.  Are
> > there maybe some homeless who are not addicts and could offer some
> > suggestions and/or help?  Why are the people using drugs (beyond the
> > addiction; addicts are very wounded people)? Would they get off drugs if
> > they had hope for something?  Homeless are part of our communities.  Most
> > people don't see them that way and we often don't talk to them to see if
> > they have solutions.
> >
> > There is a garden very close to the Farm run by the Project Homeless
> > Connect (it's on the other side of Octavia on Oak St).  Would working
> with
> > them might help us figure out a solution?  Also, what did the HOT people
> > say?  (It looks like you linked to a Google doc. If that's true, I am not
> > able to access it).  Also, there's dignity village in Portland (
> > http://www.dignityvillage.org/).
> >
> > I am not sure how to approach the communication issues other than
> > mentioning a couple of reactions: Calling HOT seemed like a breach of the
> > consensus and I am wondering if the person who called them realizes that;
> do
> > you have a process set up for making decisions.  That's one thing Diana
> > Leafe Christian talks about as one of the absolute necessities for a
> > community: a written agreement on how important decisions are made.  To
> me,
> > how to deal with the golden fence seems like a very important discussion
> > that might need to be made more formally.
> >
> > On Nov 7, 2010, at 3:01 PM, margaretha haughwout wrote:
> >
> > Last night a few of us went to see Starhawk?s new movie called
> > Permaculture: the Growing Edge  at Madrone Studios. One of the things
> > Starhawk said during the panel discussion is that the edge is where the
> gold
> > is. The margins, the fence line, the difficulties. It?s interesting
> because
> > there?s a way in which all of our problems/ opportunities (in
> permaculture
> > problems and opportunities are the same) at the farm can be tracked to
> the
> > reality and the metaphor of the fence. How can we make the most of this
> > edge?
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 3:00 PM, Jay <protojay at gmail.com> wrote:
> > The morning after the ?Attack on the Bees <
> >
> http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/07/bee-murder-at-hayes-valley-farm-unknown-attacker-sprays-hives-with-pesticide.php
> >
> > ? at Hayes Valley Farm, I was walking around the fence line looking for
> > holes, evidence of the vandalism, hoping to find a can of Raid or
> something
> > that could be fingerprinted or traced.
> >
> > I met one of the farm?s neighbors on this walk, the property manager of
> the
> > building on Octavia and Hickory. I asked him about the holes in the fence
> on
> > Hickory Street, and mentioned the vandalism that had occurred the night
> > before.  He offered to keep an eye on the site from his window and when
> > cruising around the neighborhood in his car.
> >
> > Since then, he has called me a few times.  The day after our first
> > encounter, there was a burglary at the site, someone stole 3000 pounds of
> > cardboard <
> >
> http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-07-23/bay-area/21994721_1_bee-colonies-vandals-sprayed
> >
> > , and my new friend called to let me know when the east gate was open and
> > not locked.  This is how I learned about the crime. After that, there
> were a
> > few other late night calls with thoughts on security, and a few
> neighborly
> > hellos over the summer.  We talked about the fence-line some more, the
> new
> > neighborhood-watch styled public safety group being formed to ensure
> safety
> > and security on the farm and in the neighborhood, and friendly
> small-talk.
> >  I invited him to participate in the Public Safety Meetings with the
> Hayes
> > Valley Neighborhood Association.  Later, I learned that he has lived
> there
> > for years, has been his old cars in the alley since the before the
> freeway
> > closed (he actually used to have more of them), and had even complained
> > about the farm (on behalf of his tenants?) in the earliest of days of the
> > project.
> >
> > Two weeks ago a security specialist walked the site with me and assessed
> > areas of concern, mostly along the fence and in a few places within the
> > site. Just last week, during METHODS 101: Permaculture Design Basics <
> >
> https://docs1.google.com/document/d/1m2-j1YZPmjG-sh_s3PdcieqLL_wQqrW9Rwxr1dCYgC8/edit#
> >
> > , one of the students decided to address safety and security on the farm
> as
> > their design project.  During the site assessment, issues were
> identified.
> >
> > There were some trees and overgrown brush along the alley at Octavia and
> > Hickory Streets that were preventing any of the lights from the big
> parking
> > lot on Oak and Octavia from shining into the alley, creating a dark,
> > boxed-in area that was obvious to the both the security specialist and
> the
> > newest of observers as the easiest access point and biggest ?hole in the
> > fence?.
> >
> > The assessment continued to describe the problem with clean up here is
> that
> > the trees were hanging over the old cars.  Cars which belonged to the
> same
> > property manager.  Apparently he had been asked many times by the
> community
> > to move them, to help in clean up the alley, and he had always ignored
> these
> > requests.
> >
> > Near the end of the METHODS 101 class, I noticed Robert parking in the
> > alley, and began to talk to him again from the top of the off-ramp berms.
> >  We talked about the trees and the light and he offered to help.  We
> talked
> > about his cars being in the way, and he offered to move them.  He went on
> to
> > to tell me why there were so many paper plates near the corner of the
> farm?s
> > fence. He explained he had been feeding some cats who patrolled the farm
> at
> > night by.  We talked a little bit about how the pile of plates weren?t
> > really the best thing for the plants growing on the fance, and that maybe
> we
> > could figure out another way.  Feeding them on the outside wouldn?t work,
> > putting a dish on top of the fence wouldn?t work.  He liked the idea of a
> > feeding tray attached to the inside of the fence, that he could pour food
> > into...
> >
> > Then, we talked about the tomatoes.  He was very impressed with them and
> I
> > gave him a handful to enjoy, here is the shot I took through the fence -
> > http://protojay.tumblr.com/post/1489300766 <
> > http://protojay.tumblr.com/post/1489300766> .
> >
> > -Jay
> >
> > On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 2:59 PM, margaretha haughwout <
> > xmargarethax at gmail.com> wrote:
> > That story reminds us that our presence is new on this site. Homeless
> folks
> > have been on site for much longer than we have, and this is an
> uncomfortable
> > positioning. Many of us know the narratives of gentrification and
> > marginalization that frequently come with the creation of urban gardens;
> the
> > white people come and make a robust and pleasing green space, the rents
> go
> > up and so does intolerance. And yet we also have an obligation to the
> city
> > government for permitting us to be on site, and an obligation to the
> > neighborhood, to look ?respectable.? We need to protect the daytime
> > community from getting hurt, and the tomatoes from getting trampled. How
> do
> > the permaculture values of earth care, people care, and fair share figure
> > here? How do we care for all the people that tread across this site? What
> is
> > the fair share? Who gets the food? Who recognizes it as food? Is it too
> far
> > fetched to think this farm might help the drug addicts that trespass
> here?
> > Today Jay and I discussed designing a safe enclosed space with small
> trees
> > and other food forest layers for the nighttime users.
> >
> > Another acquaintance regularly meets with the upper crust designers in
> > Hayes Valley (of which there are many). These are people who don?t know
> > permaculture, never come to the farm, but think they know urban design.
> She
> > says they frequently ask what the hell is going on over there. Why
> doesn?t
> > it look good? Our fence line is in flux right now. There?s a big area
> we?re
> > sheet mulching and there?s a lot of cardboard. It looks like trash
> because
> > it is! We?re closing that loop, turning trash into nutrient and resource.
> We
> > start all of our plants from seed, rather than buying big full plants, so
> we
> > aren?t transforming overnight. We?re a farm.
> >
> > Somehow to me the fence is emblematic of our unique positioning as an
> inner
> > city farm. It is a constant reminder of the larger national, civilized,
> and
> > urban infrastructures we operate within: of land ownership, upper class
> > values, of real and perceived dangers that come from class divisions and
> > unequal distribution of resources.
> >
> > /m
> >
> > On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 2:49 PM, Jay <protojay at gmail.com> wrote:
> > My good friend tells this story:
> >
> > ?Last fall, a group of us would meet for brunch on Sundays.  This was
> > before we were given permission to open the gates (to activate the space
> and
> > provide the community with access to it). We were dreaming about
> "Volunteer
> > Work Parties" on the giant lot.  After brunch, we would walk around the
> > perimeter fences to observe the site.  After a few walks, we had met
> quite a
> > few neighbors, who loved to talk about the potential for the space and
> what
> > they had been observing over time.  We came to know the fence line very
> > well.  We would admire the recently dumped furniture, look for freshly
> cut
> > holes in the fence and other signs of life.
> >
> > Along Laguna Street, at the west gate, two large gates locked with a
> > formidable chain and series of married locks.  The fences were all topped
> > with barbed wire. At the south gate, along Oak street just east of
> Laguna,
> > there was a hole in the fence big enough to crawl through but not so big
> > that you could push a shopping cart through.  The hole in the cyclone
> > fencing was hastily cut and sharp of the passageway.  The more formal
> double
> > doors at the east gate was unlockable.  The frame of the doors was
> > stationary and the fencing slid open like a shower curtain.  It was clear
> > people had been camping under one of the Melaleuca trees.  A tent and
> tarp,
> > piles of trash, and a dumpster lined the path. On one section of the
> fence
> > near the east gate, an entire section of the fence was removed from pole
> to
> > pole.
> >
> > On one beautiful sunny day last December, we visited the site with a good
> > friend who was excited to shoot some "before shots" of the site for a
> > documentary. We parked in the Octavia and Oak street parking lot, turned
> on
> > the camera, hauling tripods and some extra gear, and approached the east
> > gate.  As we "slid back the curtain" of the fence and walked right in, we
> > were immediately warned off by a barking dog.  The large, gray black
> lab-mix
> > was protecting its owner's campsite. We continued, and proceeded along
> the
> > ravine.  We took video of the homeless' camp, the tents and trash that
> lined
> > the inside of the path. And the broken bottles and needles that lie all
> over
> > the place.
> >
> > We slowly walked through the site and up towards the west gate.  We had
> > been there for a little while, testing different lenses and lighting and
> > shooting some footage of the ramps.  At one point, while heading back
> down
> > the offramp, we noticed something "going down" at the east gate.  A
> couple
> > of more people were now assembling there, milling about behind the
> parking
> > valet shack that was stationed right outside the gates.   We wanted to
> get
> > out of there, but all of this new action was happening at our entrance
> (and
> > planned exit).  With some adrenaline, we remembered the hole in the south
> > gate and decided we should try to squeeze through their rather than "run
> the
> > gauntlet" of the barking dog, the camp, and the new gang forming at the
> > gate.
> >
> > I went first through the hole, to show my documentarian friend how to get
> > low and avoid the spikes.  As she got through, she started to stand up
> and
> > scratched her arm on the fence.  It looked pretty bad.  That night,
>  after
> > showing her family what happened, she never came back to the farm.
> >
> > So, the footage is in an archive somewhere (for now) and one day she
> might
> > come back to shoot some "after" shots...?
> >
> > -Jay
> >
> > --
> > http://protojay.tumblr.com/
> >
> > On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 2:47 PM, margaretha haughwout <
> > xmargarethax at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On our farm we find heroin needles in between the broccoli plants. We
> have
> > a barbed wire fence that wraps around the entire 2.5 acres of our
> "freeway
> > food forest" -- a food forest that is rising from the ruins of a freeway
> > that collapsed and then lay dormant for 20 years. At night there is a
> > pregnant cat that makes the place her own (all the sheet mulching has
> > stirred up the mice and rats). Other folks crawl through the fence at
> night
> > too. With perhaps one exception, the people that come at night aren't the
> > same people that come during the day. Often ?fresh? needles appear in the
> > morning. The stories we write about here all have to do with the chain
> link
> > and barbed wire fence that was on site when we arrived. The forces it is
> > meant to keep out, the forces it is meant to contain, the edge it creates
> > around our site, the fact that it is there at all.
> >
> > ...
> >
> > There are regular potlucks Tuesday evenings on the farm. Last week I
> didn't
> > go, but I live really close by, so I got a text message from a friend
> saying
> > she way stopping by. She came up saying she wouldn't stay long as she was
> > getting up at 5:30am tomorrow morning to let H.O.T. - Homeless Outreach
> Team<
> >
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m2-j1YZPmjG-sh_s3PdcieqLL_wQqrW9Rwxr1dCYgC8/edit?hl=en
> >
> > through the gates to talk to the folks that were sleeping there. "I guess
> > someone called them,? she said. I said I?d get up with her. I was
> curious. A
> > few minutes later I got another text message from another friend leaving
> the
> > potluck. "Coming over!" it said. Friend no. 2 came up and we told her how
> we
> > were getting up early for the Homeless Outreach Team. "Oh," friend no. 2
> > said; "I called them. That was me."
> >
> > This call was predicated by several debates in our community about the
> > homeless. Some feel we should let them sleep in the farm, others are more
> > wary. Personally, I like the idea of city worn homeless people finding
> the
> > soft sheet mulch to sleep on, and maybe even helping themselves to some
> > cherry tomatoes. For a farm built on the principles of people care and
> fair
> > share as well as earth care, we are torn by what it means to give them
> the
> > boot. Youth education coordinators despair over the fact that a child
> might
> > come across a needle before they do, and since we lost our bees this
> summer
> > from a senseless act of violence <
> >
> http://www.hayesvalleyfarm.com/blog/324-two-killed-and-one-attempt-at-the-farm.html
> >
> > , we are all a little more skittish. The last time I sat with the women
> who
> > were at my house after the potluck, we had heated debate on the topic
> around
> > another table at another house in the neighborhood. It ended with all of
> us
> > agreeing if there was such a thing as a needle drop box that was
> configured
> > in a way that you couldn't reach back in and use the old needles, it
> would
> > be a good idea to install a few of those around the perimeter. We also
> > agreed that eventually we should probably just take the fence down.
> >
> > The obvious issue at hand in this story might be how to handle the issue
> of
> > homelessness and nighttime drug use on our urban farm. The not so obvious
> > issue in this story, but one that we want to tease out and explore is how
> we
> > decide what to do about the homelessness and the needles - and the fence.
> In
> > the scenario above, some of the farmers debated it at length and then one
> > person took action ad-hoc without really having a method of checking in
> with
> > the rest of the community. Also, the way in which the conversations
> occurred
> > were very ad-hoc, and happened at a variety of nodes located not only on
> the
> > farm but in the neighborhood around it - both inside and outside the
> farm.
> > There is a lot to say here about how we make decisions on the farm,
> > particularly when they negotiate between the farm and the city, the inner
> > and the outer, day and night, permacultural and urban. A lot of times
> > decisions happen exactly in the manner I?m describing above. This is a
> > thread someone might pick up for discussion: the thread of decision
> making
> > and accountability when our values ask us to be responsible to the land,
> the
> > common people and the terms of our lease asks us to be accountable to a
> > larger hierarchy. I love the unfolding at play in the story above, but
> what
> > if friend no. 2 decided to call the cops instead of H.O.T.?
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > chapter_fourteen-beforebefore.net mailing list
> > chapter_fourteen-beforebefore.net at lists.beforebefore.net
> >
> >
> http://lists.beforebefore.net/listinfo.cgi/chapter_fourteen-beforebefore.net
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> sf urban ag alliance @ sfuaa.org
> movie and blog @ insearchofgoodfood.org
> community farm @ www.alemanyfarm.org
> permaculty @ www.permaculture-sf.org
> newspaper @
> http://soex.org/alternativeexposure/index.php/antonio-roman-alcala/
> personal music @ www.myspace.com/ammra
> people people @www.myspace.com/mercurialbombastictenacity
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