South Central Community Farm

South Central Community Farm
S. Alameda St & E 41st St
Los Angeles, CA 90058

The fight to keep the South Central Farm is ongoing. The South Central Farm, with a plot of 14 acres, represented one of the largest urban farms and the struggles of its community with environmental justice, immigrant rights, human rights, and social and economic equality. South Los Angeles, formerly known as South Central Los Angeles, is known by its rich history of ethnic culture & struggle.

The community of South Los Angeles was once predominantly African American, but is now predominantly Hispanic and Latino. It also has one of the highest concentrations of Latino immigrants. After the L.A. Riots, ten plots of land were allocated to the community with the goal of them serving as a Farm and work force training center. This was the first step in reconstructing a city that had gone through a civil unrest that ended with a nearly $1 billion in economic loss.

The 14-acre plot in the middle of South Los Angeles was once a lush garden.

Source: Lane Barden

Ralph Horowitz, who owned the land, wanted the space to build an incinerator; however, the land was seized through eminent domain, and the city paid Horowitz approximately $5 million dollars. Juanita Tate’s organizations, Concerned Citizens of South Central, were crucial in stopping the trash incinerator from being built. Horowitz fought the city to regain ownership of the land, but lost the case three times. Then in 2003 a secret closed session settlement involving Jan Perry, the City Council of the district, was made and the land was sold back to Horowitz with the contingency that a portion of the land would be allocated for a soccer field. He repaid the city the $5 million dollars instead of the market value.

The Farm sustained production, reduced hunger, and fostered food justice by providing quantity food available to the community. By increasing the value of adjacent property, creating an alternative to city park, and creating a venue for them to organize and network, the space not only benefited the farmers, but the community as well. The community offered to buy the land from him, and in the beginning he agreed but at a larger price. He later refused the offer, and stated that he wouldn’t sell the land to the community at any price.

Growing anti-immigrant sentiments led for the bill H.R. 4437 was proposed. It would make felons of immigrants and those that provided services to them, and so the Latino Community had marching against. Protesting for the farm was not only a struggle for environmental and food access equality, but it was also a political symbol for the Latino community in Los Angeles.

In the end the struggle for the farms stems down to money and control. Privatization of open space and the criminality of immigrants and the poor is a way for urban elites to control practices that won’t deviate from the consumerist citizenship ethos.

Work Cited:

Irazábal, Clara, and Anita Punja. "Cultivating Just Planning And Legal Institutions: A Critical Assessment Of The South Central Farm Struggle In Los Angeles."Journal of Urban Affairs 31.1 (2009): 1-23. Print.

Texeira, M. T. "Film Review: The Garden: Eviction from Eden in South Central L.A."Teaching Sociology 38.4 (2010): 397-98. Print.

The Garden. Dir. Scott H. Kennedy. Perf. Danny Glover, Daryl Hannah, Antonio Villaraigosa, Jan Perry, Juanita Tate, and Members of the Community. Black Valley Films, 2008. Film. Netflix.com. Netflix, 6 June 2011. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. <http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The_Garden/70100724?trkid=4213507>.

Weissman, Evan. "Urban Agriculture." Green Cities. Ed. Nevin Cohen, General Editor and Paul Robbins, Series Editor. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2010. 436-42. SAGE Reference Online. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.