OCCUPY FARMS GA PROPOSAL
Move out of the parks and onto the farms!
Local farmers are at the heart of the economic crisis. They were our first responders, with truck loads of donated produce. Now the farmers rally again, offering 56 acres in upstate New York.
Farm Details:
This farmland include plenty of cleared land, an apple orchard and pine trees, a 150 foot on-site well and bordering stream on the NYC watershed, a 2 story house and a future greenhouse site.
Mission:
- An Occupy Farmer’s market at Zuccotti and all over the city.
- A meeting ground for camps visiting from across the world.
- Yearly harvest festivals with bands, teach-ins, and crafts workshops.
- Connection with nature, mother earth and permaculture
- Protecting & reclaiming farmland
- To provide a teachable, sustainable, horizontal farming model
- Place OWS activism on the front-line of the global fracking debate
Open Meetings:
The Occupied Farms team consists of farmers, naturalists, mycologists, bee keepers, gardeners, environmentalists, writers, librarians and more. We encourage all to come to our next meeting Sunday 5pm at 60 Wall St. We hope to take up 30-40 people on our next farm trip Tues Dec. 13th.
Projects:
We already completed one self-financed recon mission involving 17 people over 3-4 days. We are asking the GA for access to $10,000 in start-up funding for future trips and immediate projects until we become self-sufficient, which we hope will happen by January 1st. Projects include:
-Sorting scraps heaps into salvageable metals, garbage, etc…
-Gathering stack/cord/split fire wood
-Digging a root cellar and preparing a basement for food storage
-Demolishing a barn and constructing a winter greenhouse
-Site and set up tent/kitchen/bathroom etc
-Explore and draw maps and flora/fauna surveys
In order to do this, we want to be prepared to pay for:
-Tents, tarps and heating equip (beyond what is in SIS): estimated at $2,000
-Greenhouse Construction: estimated at $2,000
-Truck/work vehicle: estimated at $2,000
-transportation costs for 3 weeks: estimated at $1,000
-Work gear: gloves, boots, ax/maul/chainsaw, shovels, spades, etc: estimated at $1,000
-Food for 3 weeks: estimated at $1,000
-Kitchenware and bed frames for 30-50 people: estimated at $700
-Medical supplies/medic: estimated at $300