Marley Benshalom is originally from Israel and was brought to the U.S. at a very young age. Her early years were spent in an environment filled with emotional abuse and drug addiction that ultimately resulted in the loss of her brother and hospitalization of her mother. She returned to Israel at age nineteen to cultivate compassion, gratitude, and love despite her past. She is dedicated to a life of service and believes all beings should have access to food, shelter, and love.

Marley Bensahlom is passionate about community healing and environmental restoration. Currently she is pursuing a degree in Natural Conservation & Research at UCB. She is dedicated to a life of service and believes all beings should have access to food, shelter, and love. Marley is the Co-Founder of the Mindful Garden Collective which began as the Laney College garden restoration and is currently building a wellness program for the campus. She continuously creates monthly events around health and wellness to empower the community and give back to those in need. When she is not being a community connector, she is on her bike, hiking, practicing yoga, and most importantly spending time with mother earth. She believes the most important part of life is the present moment and sharing authentically with those around you.

2016 Convergence Panel: Food Justice Through the Lens of Race

Region is the co-founder and co director of Full Harvest Farms, a half acre permaculture farm in East Oakland. The farm has animal husbandry, community workshops focused on the impact of our changing climate, permaculture education, and rein-visioning our dependency on traditional systems. He also works as the Peer Mentor and permaculture instructor to formerly incarcerated men and women as part of Pathways to Resilience, a program which he apprenticed and graduated from in Summer 2014. He most recently was awarded a most coveted Farmers Fellowship as part of Ecofarm 2015. Before he started farming he was an organizer, who worked on campaigns in New Orleans and Oakland around rights of those formerly incarcerated. On his free time he loves to spend time with his wife and daughter on the farm.

Comprised of the backyards of three adjoining lots in East Oakland, Full Harvest Urban Farm is a full service farm with 25 chickens and 8 ducks for both meat and egg production, 3 kinder dual-purpose goats, dispersed orchard and vegetable plots and a potbelly pig! Full Harvest farmers practice ingenious methods that honor the land such as the three sisters and other companion planting practices. Full Harvest is currently working on a diversity of development and infrastructure projects including building two residential yurts and one community gathering yurt which will be fully “off the grid” running on solar power in the city. They also have plans for a sweat lodge and food forest. Full Harvest is a people of color led organization that seeks to engage marginalized communities in the fight for food sovereignty and access. They provides service based classes and trainings as well as a direct action approach that engages in the broader fight for food justice with an emphasis on working with communities of color. Host Karissa Lewis speaks eloquently for the need for people of color to reconnect to the land. There will be a special activities for children at this site. Region, one of the three “Full Harvest Urban” farmers, says the farm gives him more than just organic fruits and vegetables. It gives him another chance at life.

2016 Convergence Panel: Food Justice Through the Lens of Race