South Central Farmers

Did you know there is a lively, thriving farm in the center of South Central L.A.?

The South Central Farm started in 1992, following the L.A. uprising on a barren piece of land... well, barren except for the weeds and trash that littered it. No one wanted it. No one took care of it. So the community decided to take initiative and use the 14-acre plot of land and develop it into a community garden. And also as a community space where all the different folks could celebrate and move past their differences for a common good.

There's probably a space like this in your own town that you don't know about.

This garden feeds over 300 community members in the South Central neighborhood.

But now... developers want the land. As developers usually do in poor, ethnically diverse neighborhoods inside cities.

In less than a week, the South Central Farmers face eviction from their land and their project. And while I don't know all the particulars, or the behind-the-scenes rhetoric or propaganda, I do know that community activists always get the short end of the stick, so to speak. Why do people see community activists as a nuisance, rather than shedding light on issues? That's another blog. Another day.

Take a look at the South Central Farmers site. Take a look at LOUDmouth Magazine, which has a few stories in the current FOOD issue on SCF. Take a look at the coffee you're sipping on right now... or want to sip on. You can get that coffee anywhere... do we need yet another location to replace something good... something green happening in the neighborhood?
fs