by FYI
Thursday, Feb. 02, 2006 at 8:34 AM
What: Hundreds of community supporters demand that the developer keep from destroying one of the most unique landmarks of Los Angeles: The South Central Farm, the largest urban farm in the U.S.!
When: Friday, February 3, 2006 @ 12:00pm
Where: The Office of Ralph Horowitz:
Wilshire and Montana in Brentwood
(11911 San Vicente Blvd Los Angeles, CA)
Who: Community supporters of the South Central Farm
Sponsored by Axis of Justice and others
Why: The official eviction notice may be served within days. Hundreds of community supporters of the South Central Farm will gather in front of Ralph Horowitz? office to peacefully call for the preservation of this 13 year old community project.
For 13 years, 350 families have tended a 14-acre urban farm in the middle of South L.A.?s gritty industrial belt. Growing their own cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes and other staples has helped make good nutrition affordable. Traditional crops like chipillin, alachi, quelite and pipicha have helped keep meso-american cuisine and folk-medicine alive. This urban farm, the largest in the U.S., provides a safe, children-friendly environment for 350 families and
thousands of visitors who come to the lively farmers market on Sundays. The farm is also an oasis of green-space that helps to lessen air and water pollution in the surrounding community.
The City of L.A. acquired the land in the late 1980s, but abandoned plans to build a trash incinerator after community protests. In 1994, officials transferred title to the Harbor Department, which contracted with the L.A.
Regional Food Bank to operate a community farm on the property. In 2003, the City Council agreed to sell the 14 acres back to the original owner, private developer Ralph Horowitz, who wants to demolish the urban farm and build a warehouse.
The 350 families (South Central Farmers) and community supporters of the South Central Farm have been camping out in the field since the summer of 2005 to prevent Horowitz from destroying this vibrant urban farm that provides significant benefits to the city of Los Angeles. The struggle to save the South
Central Farm is about food security, environmental and social justice: all communities deserve safe access to nutritious food, parks, gardens and safe place for children, youth and their families. The South Central Farmers are self-sufficient and are working to raise money to buy this land, they are not
asking for a hand-out from taxpayers.
For information on the South Central Farmers, please visit their website: www.southcentralfarmers.com
www.southcentralfarmers.com