The West Berkeley urban farmer who asked the community to help him buy an olive oil press has raised enough money to install it.
Now he just needs to find the press a home.
Andy Dale, a computer security and privacy architect who also runs a small farming operation from his Seventh Street home, raised $2,670 through Kickstarter.com, a website that crowd-sources fundraising. That was $170 over his $2,500 goal.
In August and September, 38 people pledged from $10 to $300 dollars to help Dale acquire a modern olive oil press, which he intends to make a community concern. He will create a business where people can bring their olives and turn them into oil for a small fee or donation of the oil.
The olive harvest season is just about to start, though, and now Dale needs a place to put the press. He has found some potential spots in the rural areas of Moraga and Orinda, but would prefer to find a location in west Berkeley. He is hoping to make contact with some of the people who have vacant industrial space in the neighborhood, but so far has not been successful.
“It’s going to be fairly easy for me to find a space if I go a little more rural, but my dream is to be an urban resource,” said Dale, who is chronicling his journey on his new website, The Dale Family Farm. “I’m struggling to find an appropriate space despite the abundance of spaces in west Berkeley where I live. “
Although Dale could contact one of the commercial real estate brokers who have signs on vacant buildings, he is hoping to find an owner who may like his project and who can offer an affordable rent. Dale has also been working with Berkeley’s office of Economic Development to find a space.
Dale is also asking people to contact him through his website if they see any “public” olive trees. He plans to organize a small group to harvest some of the public trees and to use the olives to make oil.
