South Central Farm (community garden)
Los Angeles, United States · Operator: South Central Farmers (community collective, originally via LA Regional Food Bank)
Overview
One of the largest urban farms in the US (~14 acres), active from the 1990s to 2006. A vacant lot seized for an incinerator that was never built became a self-organized garden where immigrant residents grew traditional crops as a hub of food and culture.
Citizen participation
After the LA riots, roughly 350 mostly Latino immigrant families divided a long-vacant lot into plots and farmed them themselves to grow food for their households.
Operating model
Nonprofit community garden on land the city leased to a food bank for residents to cultivate at no cost; after the land was sold in 2004, the farmers were evicted and the site bulldozed in 2006.
Impact
Provided food and belonging to over 350 families; the eviction struggle was documented in the film 'The Garden' and became a landmark case in debates over urban land use and food justice.
Crops
- corn
- beans
- squash
- cactus (nopales)
- guava
- avocado
- mulberry
- sugar cane
Scale
56,656 m² — About 14 acres (~5.7 ha) on a former incinerator site at E 41st St & S Alameda St; ~350 families
Sources（2）
This entry is compiled from the public sources, official sites and research below.
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