Ecosystem – Ana Mosseri, BFA Furniture Design, 2017

comprehend all the things that are going on just in order to convert organic matter into dirt. Spending all this time looking into this complex system of connected parts, I started to look at other aspects of our work at SCLT as part of a larger, more complicated web of interconnected parts. In my experience at Southside Community Land Trust, I’ve come to see the importance of our interactions with all of the different people and organizations in the neighborhood. Teaching at Davey Lopes Recreation Complex and at the Center for Southeast Asians twice a weak provides regular contact with the families that use those spaces. We rely on that contact in order to understand what people’s needs and interests are with regards to the realm of growing food. We have also touched base with different organizations in the neighborhood such as Project Weber/RENEW to understand how to safely interact with vulnerable populations that surround our site at Somerset Hayward. It has become increasingly clear to me that in order to thrive we need to actively engage in the variety of organisms that exist in the neighborhood. Like the soil, we are in an ecosystem and there is no denying our inherent connection, whether large or small, to every aspect of the Southside.

Recently, we’ve had the opportunity for all the youth staff to have a tour of the Amos House, an impressive social services agency just two blocks from our site. They provide everything from free dining services, clothes and hygienic products to job training and education. We were able to make the intellectual connection between our work urban farming and the existence of hunger in America as an aspect of the larger food system. The amos house provides over 500 meals per day using food they purchase wholesale as well as salvaged produce from super markets. The other important connection we’ve made with the organization is the ability to hire extra helping hands when needed for big jobs like planting, weed whacking or repurposing land. The Amos House is able to connect our organization with people who are ready and willing to do some hands on work.