Planting Justice cultivates urban agriculture, helps former inmates turn over a new leaf

WITH THE LAUNCH of Planting Justice’s Good Table Project and the opening of a new farmers market in El Sobrante, access to membership in an over-100-year legacy is gained by digging fingers into dirt, biting into lush, organically grown fruit and vegetables, or shoving tiny, fragile seedlings into the soil.

The Oakland-based nonprofit is a network of urban land-based social justice enterprises founded by Gavin Raders and Haleh Zandi in 2008. The food-justice and urban-gardening organization grew from a single backyard garden to become in 2024 an organization with three urban garden/nurseries, two farms, the Good Table Project that includes a pay-what-you-can café, commercial incubator kitchen, retail nursery, community gathering space, and future arts venue. In addition to the new farmer’s market, a large, active volunteer work force participates in multiple ways, including farm maintenance, retail sales, and more.