“We are in an era when gardens are front and center for hopes and dreams of a better world or just a better neighborhood, or the fertile space where the two become one. There are farm advocates and food activists, progressive farmers and gardeners, and maybe most particular to this moment, there’s a lot of urban agriculture. These city projects hope to overcome the alienation of food, of labor, of embodiment, of land, the conflicts between production and consumption, between pleasure and work, the destructiveness of industrial agriculture, the growing problems of global food scarcity, seed loss. The list of ideals being planted and tended and sometimes harvested is endless, but the question is simple. What crops are you tending? What do you hope to grow? Hope? Community? Health? Pleasure? Justice? Gardens represent the idealism of this moment…” -- Rebecca Solnit, Revolutionary Plots: Urban Agriculture is producing a lot more than food, Published in the July/August 2012 issue of Orion magazine

The Urban Agriculture Ordinance calls for the establishment of an Urban Agriculture Program for the City and County of San Francisco. The ordinance requires the Office of the City Administrator to coordinate with City departments and community stakeholders to determine which City agency or non-profit organization will permanently house the Urban Agriculture program.

The Office of the City Administrator will work with relevant City departments and community stakeholders to develop a strategic plan for the Urban Agriculture Program by December 31, 2012.

Working Group

The working group meetings will serve as a strategic planning forum for the relevant City departments regarding the goals outline in the Urban Agriculture Ordinance.

The working group will convene four (4) Thursdays between September 2012 and December 2012. All meetings will be held from 4:00pm-5:00pm in City Hall. The scheduled dates are:

September 20, 2012
October 18, 2012
November 15, 2012
December 13, 2012

List of Participating Departments

Community Challenge Grant Program

Department of Building Inspection

Department of Children, Youth & Their Families

Department of the Environment

Department of Public Health

Department of Public Works

Real Estate Division

San Francisco Planning Department

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

San Francisco Recreation and Parks

Office of the Assessor-Recorder

Office of the City Administrator

List of Relevant City Departments

Human Services Agency of San Francisco

Office of Economic and Workforce Development

Office of the Controller

San Francisco Housing Authority

Port of San Francisco

Community Outreach

Starting October 1st 2012, the Office of the City Administrator will conduct community outreach. The opportunity to provide feedback will happen in three forms:

1. Community Group Meetings
2. Qualitative one-on-one interviews
3. Town Halls

The following Town Halls (see flyer) have been scheduled:

The Ortega Branch Library Program Room (3223 Ortega Street)
November 27 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

The SE Community Facility Alex Pitcher Room (1800 Oakdale Ave)
November 29 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

The Veterans War Memorial Building (401 Van Ness Ave)
December 8 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

For the most up to date information please contact:

Amy Torregrossa
Amy.Torregrossa@sfgov.org
415-554.4928

Joseph Baxter
Joseph.Baxter@sfgov.org