Meet The Good Table
A Vision for Community Café and Organic Tree and Plant Nursery operated by Planting Justice and Mira Vista United Church of Christ, now known as The Good Table United Church of Christ (GTUCC)
When the leaders of Mira Vista UCC (MVUCC) and Planting Justice (PJ) first met in September 2018, both organizations immediately recognized the great synergy between the two groups for creating a community café with separate gathering spaces for education, spiritual celebrations, live music, and community events plus an organic tree and plant nursery at the site of the former Adachi nursery in El Sobrante.
Many members of The Good Table UCC already live in El Sobrante and PJ has a farm close to the property with plans to operate in the area for the long term. This development creates a headquarters for both organizations to improve and expand over time. For GTUCC, this will be our new sanctuary, a new spiritual home for our congregation that not only serves our needs, but those of our neighbors. Having a retail nursery and education space for PJ, will make it much easier for their community to gather and connect to new supporters.
For El Sobrante residents, the site of the former Adachi nursery is one of the few “landmarks” in the town and has recently been designated a site of historical significance as part of the long history of Japanese-owned nurseries in the Bay Area. The 1966 mid-century modern building was designed by award-winning Richmond firm, Hardison and Komatsu (Donald Hardison and S. Richard Komatsu), now HKIT Architecture in Oakland. Hardison and Komatsu designed many landmark buildings in Northern California including the student center at U.C. Berkeley. As PJ and GTUCC have met with residents, we have found broad and dedicated support for our plan because it will preserve the original building and the nursery function too. In addition, the community is in desperate need of a place to simply gather for good food, conversation, and fun.
We also plan to offer locally-produced products such as honey and jams creating a regular farm stand in El Sobrante, as well as a retail outlet for local artisans to sell their products. In time, we plan to expand our food services, sponsor a farmer’s market and/or create other beneficial activities to meet community needs. Our project aims to be self-sustaining financially, but our real success will be creating a robust social service bottom-line.
