In the late 1960s Guyana became a model for food rebels looking for work arounds to dominant caste controlled food system. It was at the 1970 ASCRIA conference in Guyana that members of the East raised their pan- African consciousness and increasingly embraced the importance of developing a sovereign cooperative food system with corresponding businesses as a strategy for obtaining economic and political independence. In Guyana The East established the Uhuru Sasa Plan which called for purchasing 300 acres of land in Guyana for raising food crops and animals. The plan included producing food for a East food co-op in Brooklyn, a training center for nation building skills, and a retreat space for those needing spiritual, physical and behavioral health restoration. Historian Russell Rickford argues that for black nationalist organizations like The East, farming in Guyana provided a means for creating and maintaining an alternative food system for the lower caste communities they served. Projects like the Uhuru Sasa Plan also provided an escape from state policies and practices in places like Brooklyn undesirable to live in.