South Central Farmers. Out of time.
Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 09:30:00 AM PDT
Perhaps you have not heard about the South Central Farmers, a coalition of working poor families that have been farming a 14 acre plot for 14 years in the heart of south L.A. Maybe you haven't heard of them because like most things that paint the govt. in a less than favorable light, they don't get much media attention. The story of the urban farming community is another sad tale of the wealthy elite more concerned with profit than human interest, and local government complicit in destroying healthy thriving community for the sake of big money. More below.
For 14 years, the South Central Farmers http://www.southcentralfarmers.com/... have worked to transform the land into a farm that meets the needs of a community regularly ignored and neglected by the City and its "elected" representatives. The State has failed Los Angeles residents who lack access to healthcare. The South Central Farmers grow medicinal herbs as an alternative to the high cost of prescription drugs. The City has failed to provide safe places for the children of South Central Los Angeles to play free from threats of violence and gang activity. The South Central Farmers welcome families and community into a veritable oasis.
Just like the folks in New Orleans who just had to have been too lazy to escape, the folks here have been labeled as poor and lazy, which couldn't be farther from the truth.
The South Central Farmers dispel the myth that the poor are poor because they are lazy. Many of the South Central Farmers work more than one job, and then farm the land at 41st and Long Beach Avenue. They grow staples such as corn, tomatoes, cactus, and other foods such as papalotl, pipicha, chipillin, alachi, quelite, and quintonil from Meso-America unavailable elsewhere in Los Angeles. The South Central Farmers provide fresh foods and a healthy alternative to the working poor. They have found a creative way to feed families without "welfare."
They took an unused trashed piece of property and turned it into a model of what is possible through hard work and cooperation when people are given the chance to succeed.
"The South Central Farm is a gem in the Los Angeles landscape. It supplies local communities with fresh, organic produce, gives children a safe environment to play and learn in, and provides a successful example of urban sustainability for the rest of the world to follow..."
Dr. Joseph Hurwitz, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Isaiah, Palm Springs
Who and what are they about? http://www.southcentralfarmers.com/...
Since 1992, the 14 acres of property located at 41st and Alameda Streets in Los Angeles have been used as a community garden or farm. The land has been divided into 360 plots and is believed to be one of the largest urban gardens in the country.
The City of Los Angeles acquired the 14-acre property by eminent domain in the late 1980s, taking it from nine private landowners. The largest of these owners, Alameda-Barbara Investment Company, owned approximately 80 percent of the site had been compensated $4.7 million dollars. The partners of Alameda were Ralph Horowitz and Jacob Libaw. The City originally intended to use the property for a trash incinerator, but abandoned that plan in the face of public protest organized by the late Juanita Tate and the Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles.
Then came the Rodney King riots.
Following the uprising in 1992, the City set aside the 14-acre site for use as a community garden. In 1994, the City transferred title to the property by ordinance to its Harbor Department for $13 million. When it received title to the property, the Harbor Department contracted with the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank to operate the property as a community garden.
And so a community was born out of hard work and respect for each-others
talents, the South Central Farmers began to build their urban paradise.
Meanwhile behind the scenes.
In 1995, the City began negotiating with Libaw-Horowitz Investment Company (LHIC), the successor company to Alameda, to sell them the entire 14-acre property. The City negotiators sent LHIC a purchase agreement, and LHIC executed the agreement and returned it to the City in October 1996. The terms of the agreement expressly made it contingent on City Council approval. The City Council never approved the agreement, and the sale was not completed. The proposed agreement fixed the sale amount at $5,227,200.
Over the next nine years and much legal wrangling.
On December 11, 2003, however, the City transferred title to the property to Ralph Horowitz and the Horowitz Family Trust, The Libaw Family LP, Timothy M. Ison and Shaghan Securities, LLC.
On January 8, 2004, Ralph Horowitz issued a notice setting February 29, 2004, as the termination date for the community garden. In the meantime before February 29, members of the South Central Farmers Feeding Families obtained legal counsel (Hadsell & Stormer, Inc., and Kaye, Mclane & Bednarski LLP) and filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the sale of the property. The Los Angeles County Superior Court issued a temporary restraining order and later a preliminary injunction halting development of the property during the pendency of the lawsuit. Both the City and the Horowitz defendants appealed the Superior Court’s order granting the preliminary injunction.
After several more legal battles concerning the validity of the sale by the city an appeals court sided with the city and allowed the sale to stand and ordered the farmers to leave. The govt. despite overwhelming public protest, decided to forcibly evict the caretakers of this property with complete disregard for what the community wants.
After a few weeks of uncertainty, the South Central Farmers were served with an eviction notice on March 1, 2006. An error on the posting brought the Sheriff’s department out the next day to repost. The notice gave the farmers 5 days to vacate the premises.
They of course refused to leave which led to the events of June 13.
The South Central Farm is currently under attack. An early morning raid began this 5-hour long eviction that is still in process. Trees are being cut down, bulldozers are leveling the families' food, hundreds of protesters are on site rallying with tears in their eyes as the nation's largest urban farm is destroyed before them. The L.A.P.D. is on tactical alert as fire ladders and cherry pickers are being brought in to remove the tree-sitters.
You can read the whole sordid tale at their website. It includes the city council selling off the land to a wealthy developer in violation of some of it's own ordinances,
even after matching funds were found to keep the farm intact, and the local govt. turning a blind eye to the plight of these people. There have been many celebrities and activists involved lately including Danny Glover, Darrel Hannah, Julia Butterfly Hill and many more. I rushed through this as I have been sitting on it for almost a week and still haven't had time to diary this story. I know I have not given the story the full investment of time to do it justice but I want to get this story out there.
I'm not sure what else can be done to help these folks but they haven't given up hope yet.
They are holding a Candlelight Vigil http://www.southcentralfarmers.com/... every night and In spite of the eviction they remain in the neighborhood to protect the heart of their community.
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