Planting Justice

Program Type: 
Kitchen Classrooms, Garden Classrooms
Grade Level/Age Group: 
Other, Adults/Professionals, College/University, High School, Middle School
Number of Individuals Program Serves: 
1,000
Year Founded: 
2009
About the Program: 

Planting Justice is a 501(c)(3) organization based in Oakland, California with a mission to democratize access to affordable nutritious food by empowering urban residents with the skills, resources, and knowledge to grow organic food, expand economic opportunities, and take action for environmental justice and sustainability in the San Francisco Bay Area. We work to achieve our mission through four programs. Our Urban Food Forest program brings low-income urban residents together to build cooperative, productive gardens at schools, community centers, and apartment complexes. Our Education program with middle school/high school students, inmates at San Quentin State Prison, as well as with the general public critically examines the industrial and corporate control of the food system and engages students in hands-on practices in growing and sharing culturally relevant, nutritious, and organic food. Our Canvass program organizes door-to-door to expand awareness about the harms of industrial food production, invite participation in our community gardens, raise funds for our educational projects, and empower the voices of food justice advocates to affect public policy. Lastly, our Transform your Yard edible landscaping program trains and employs historically disenfranchised people (such as the formerly incarcerated and at-risk youth) to design and build permaculture gardens for both full-paying clients and subsidized low-income households. Planting Justice was founded in April 2009, and since then has designed and built more than 100 gardens throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Program Members: