Week 8: Lit Review - Lindsay

Lawson, Laura. The South Central Farm: dilemmas in practicing the public. Cultural Geographies. Oct2007, Vol. 14 Issue 4, p611-616.

Since we spent time Monday learning about a local example of community intervention in the form of community gardens and many of us are planning to participate in a garden work day this Saturday, I thought it would be appropriate to examine some of the literature written on the subject. I chose the above article by Lawson because I felt it highlighted the challenges and benefits of community gardening in easily understandable terms through a case study.

The article centers around the South Central Farm, which was a thriving 14-acre community garden in an impoverished area of Los Angeles. The garden was originally a project proposed by the regional food bank to increase access to nutritious foods and provide a positive point of interaction for neighbors. The project gained widespread support from public and private sources and the city even donated a piece of land near the food bank to be used. In 1993 local residents as well as individuals from neighboring areas rented plots and the garden grew quickly. Soon it became the place that neighbors gathered to not only garden, but to buy and sell goods, get to know one another, and express themselves.

Unfortunately, debates around whether or not the city actually had the right to allow a community garden on the property arose and eventually, despite massive protests, the city had to sell the land the garden was on and it was bulldozed in 2006. The damage to the community was great, since they had invested so much time, effort, and pride in the garden and had to see it destroyed. Even though the city offered another site for the farmers to cultivate, it never reached the success the original garden had.

The article highlights one of the concerns often raised by critics of community gardens- longevity. Like our speaker Monday pointed out, without long term planning community gardens can quickly go bad. In the South Central Farm situation, local agencies, the city government, and residents were so caught up in the potential benefits of the garden that they failed to consider what it would take to maintain it long term.

 I was pleased to hear from our speaker Monday that there is an organization in St. Louis which actually helps communities who want to begin a garden go through a process of long term and succession planning in order to help build a strong foundation and avoid possible pitfalls. From what she said about the process they went through in order to choose their current garden location, it sounds like the Old Ferguson West Garden site was chosen with a long term plan in mind.

Despite the potential challenges addressed, the article also highlights some of the characteristics of community gardens at their best. During the 13 year life of the South Central Farm it served as a gathering place for individuals to meet and share their culture as well as a place that provided nutritious food and a local marketplace. The author suggests that at their best, community gardens can be a source of local pride. She points out that community gardens do not need to be limited to growing produce, but can become meeting places and can hold community events and festivals in order to bring whole communities together. I loved that the article highlighted some of the same things we heard our speaker mention on Monday and I’m looking forward to hearing more about the Old Ferguson West Garden.

I would also love to hear about any experiences classmates have had with community gardens. What have you seen that works and what doesn’t?

Cut and Paste this in browser to access article (or look in academic search premier database):

<a href="http://ezproxy.umsl.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=28056275&site=ehost-live&scope=site">Cultural geographies in practice: The South Central Farm: dilemmas in practicing the public.</a>