In the heart of South Central Los Angeles, a lush 14-acre community garden rose from the ashes of the 1992 LA riots. The city donated the land in the largely Latino neighborhood in the hopes that this vast field crammed with garbage and syringes would be replaced with an abundance of ripe tomatoes, fresh lettuce, and sweet papayas. The South Central Farm, as it was called, was a resounding success, enabling the farmers to rely on home-grown produce instead of food stamps. It also created a place of beauty where before
there had only been signs of abject poverty, violence, and dependence. The garden was a source of pride and sustenance for more than a decade, but in December 2003, bulldozers were poised to level the urban oasis to make room for…warehouses.
