This story aired in the April 8, 2025 episode of Crosscurrents.
In 2010, Oakland resident Kelly Carlisle was concerned about the health and wellbeing of youth in the city. At the time, Black students were being suspended from school at higher rates than others, and issues of child trafficking were making headlines.
Kelly was in search of a solution and a positive outlet for kids. With a few agriculture books and a lemon tree, she decided to start a farm.
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Story Transcript:
Sound of song “Cool Like That” by Digable Planets
KELLY CARLISLE: Welcome, welcome, Welcome to our first art market and donor dessert potluck and tea, joyful tea night.
REPORTER: That’s Kelly Carlisle, founder of Acta Non Verba. She’s addressing community members at her West Oakland farm site before handing the mic over to Chef Wanda.
CHEF WANDA: And I'm very, very happy to be here for an organization that is looking at opportunities for our youth, not somebody else's. Our youth. And for them to be outside, be on the land.
REPORTER: Chef Wanda is one of three chefs doing farm-based cooking demos today.
CHEF WANDA: I'm happy to be here and to share with you a Southern classic condiment. So the history is that chow chow was made with cabbage, green tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, and vinegar. And it was made like a preserve. And it was served on the table like some of us do hot sauce.
REPORTER: This farm provides the surrounding community with fresh produce, a kids playground, an outdoor kitchen for demos, and chickens. Yes, we have chickens in West Oakland, y’all.
Sounds of chickens clucking
REPORTER: As cliche as this may sound, Kelly learned about the possibility of growing her own food when life gave her lemons, literally. She saw her first lemon tree on a hot day after she was laid off from her job.
KELLY: Randomly we were in this nursery trying to have air conditioning and take my baby somewhere new. I saw this giant lemon dangling off this tiny little tree.
REPORTER: It was a scrawny tree but Kelly put it to work.
KELLY: And so when I realized it was a lemon tree, I bought it and dared it to give me another lemon. And when it did, it was done. I was in love. I was like, “We can all just do this? With our own knowledge? You don’t have to have an advanced degree to grow lemons and give them to your people? That’s amazing!” That was the beginning of my agricultural career.
REPORTER: She started to imagine that farming could make a positive impact on the lives of youth, too.
KELLY: I served in the Navy and it just seemed un-American that we have a city, arguably one of the most progressive cities in the United States with a 40% dropout rate in this place where, you know, so many technologies, so many movements have been founded that our youth are so uninspired and so unsupported that they will drop out of school before they have a chance to even experience the good stuff, read really good books, you know what I mean?
REPORTER: She wanted to use farming as a way to let kids be kids.
KELLY: Having a childhood is the priority. We cannot expect kids to have empathy or to be forward thinking or future thinking or make good decisions when they are boxed in.
REPORTER: Today, Acta Non Verba has three sites including the West Oakland location, which is a 1.4 acre farm that they took over from City Slicker Farms in 2023.
JIA WEN WANG: Good morning, everybody. Welcome in.
REPORTER: Now, Acta Non Verba has programs that go beyond farming. Today, at their Deep East Oakland location called Tassafaronga Farm, Jai Wen is training young people to be facilitators.
Jia Wen: So we’re going to start with our journal topic or check in question
REPORTER: Jia Wen has been with Acta Non Verba for eight years – first as a teen and now as a program manager. A group of ninth graders are practicing classroom facilitation. Their lesson topics range from decision-making...
MIMI: This workshop is basically just to talk a little bit about ourselves and be vulnerable and also get to know each other and also learn important decision making skills.
REPORTER: …to self-care!
DEMYAH: We are going to be making–can I get a drum roll please? Sugar scrubs! The first one we have is rosemary!
STUDENT-1: What is that? Rosemary?
STUDENT-2: Isn't that at the farm park?
DEMYAH: Yes! Lavender…
STUDENT-2: Me, I want lavender!
DEMYAH: Eucalyptus. It's a yes, it's a herb.
REPORTER: After the lesson, Jojo breaks down what he’s gained from participating in Acta Non Verba.
JOJO: I've been coming to Acta Non Verba since I was four or five. I learned how to farm. I learned better communication, teamwork. And leadership, for now, since I got older. It's like, basically like school, but better because you get to have fun. And it's different kids so you get to meet new people. And they take us camping, and that's my favorite thing to do, go camping.
REPORTER: And Itzayana talks about her new skills in the kitchen.
ITZYANA: Some of the things that I learned during that cooking class, I still do at home. Like when I'm cooking I wash my hands and put gloves on if I need to. I mostly cook garlic bread. I make it from scratch. Or chicken alfredo.
REPORTER: Program manager Jia Wen says she's proud when she hears how Acta Non Verba impacts the daily lives of young people. She recently spoke with a program alumni who is now applying to college.
JIA WEN: And she was saying how she lived in these apartments where our office is based. And so she used to ask her mom to come here every weekend when they had time off to help on the farm and get access to those groceries and fresh produce that we have on the farm.
REPORTER: The student was raised by her mom and they did not have a car.
JIA WEN: So having the farm was very impactful for them to get the fresh produce like stuff. That's harder to find. I think she said the closest grocery store was like 30 minutes away by bus. And that's quite a trip, you know.
REPORTER: Many of the staff, and the founder, are mothers from the same area. They understand this very challenge from experience.
JIA WEN: I think especially where Acta Non Verba is based at, like we were founded in deep East Oakland, where there's a difference between like a food desert versus a food apartheid, which a food apartheid is what is more accurately described of East Oakland.
REPORTER: According to the USDA, a food desert is an area where at least 20 percent of the population is living at or below the poverty rate. And at least 33 percent lives more than a mile from a large grocery store. Acta Non Verba chooses to use the term food apartheid instead, calling attention to the systemic and historical issue of food access in Oakland.
Sounds of BPP Breakfast Audio: Party members are welcoming children to eat a breakfast program.
REPORTER: The fight for food justice in Oakland runs deep.The Black Panther Party played a huge role in ensuring that youth got access to fresh and healthy food. Back in 1969, they started small with the Free Breakfast Program serving 11 students. They eventually grew to serve over 20,000 kids across the country. It’s fair to argue: the Black Panther Party is why students receive breakfast on a national level. In 1975, the U.S. government formally authorized the school breakfast program.
Acta Non Verba is working to continue this deep, rich history but their farms are losing some of their funding.
JIA WEN: We lost the sugar, sweet, and beverage grant, which helped directly fund some of our classes that we would normally do. We do this cooking class for our kids
REPORTER: …which helps kids learn how to cook food directly from the farm.
JIA WEN: Now we have to pay out of pocket.
REPORTER: Despite losing city funding, Acta Non Verba Founder Kelly Carlisle is hopeful and calling on the community to lean in and support their mission to build a promising future for youth.
KELLY: It is imperative if we are going to survive as a species that we start thinking about the future, not Elon's future, not Trump's future.We have to start thinking about real, actual solutions for our kids and their kids and how we're going to make sure that they don't have to have the same struggles that we do.