Features

Commentary: Ecology Center Response

Tuesday December 06, 2005

To Daily Planet letter-writer Michaela Bowens: I’m sorry that someone has filled your head with lies about the Ecology Center position on playing fields for kids. We have always supported the development of a multi-use field at Derby Street. We find it appalling this site sat empty for so many years while it could have been used by both girls’ and boys’ soccer, rugby, field hockey, and lacrosse teams. We have participated at deep levels of planning and engagement to those ends. We believe that physical education and team sports in particular are critical components, along with nutritional education and access to fresh fruits and vegetables, in addressing Berkeley’s unacceptable health disparities and the national obesity crisis. We have done much in this arena to work with BUSD both in and out of the classroom. We are concerned that any changes at Derby Street fully accommodate the needs of the thousands of shoppers, dozens of vendors, food justice organizations, and restaurants that depend on the South Berkeley Farmers’ Market as a thriving community resource. As for your comments about us sending kids to war or jail, please keep the dialogue respectful, not irrational. In the future, before you go passing judgment and publishing misinformed opinion about the Ecology Center, please check your facts. 

 

Martin Bourque 

Ecology Center Executive Director