A fruit tree grows in Watts
Greening our cities requires action on a whole number of fronts. Transportation and energy figure prominently in the equation. Getting people out of single-occupancy cars and into alternate modes of transportation, including bicycling and public transportation is one step. Building smart so as to minimize the amount of energy consumed in building, heating, and cooling buildings, and getting to and from them (think proximity to public transportation nodes) is another. But there are other fronts, too. One of them is food.
Food systems are as much a part of greening our cities as transportation and energy systems. What we eat and where we buy it has significant impacts on the environment and, of course, on human health. More calls have been made to bring the farm back to the city. Locally grown produce requires less energy to transport the ultimate consumer. It also tastes better, encouraging people to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. This of course ties back to health care. People who eat right require less medical care, and this savings inures to their benefit and those who insure them. Work on health care reform should include work on what we eat.
In recent years there has been growing interest in urban agriculture. Vacant lots in cities have been turned into community farms. Los Angeles, California, one of the most densely populated cities in the United States, is no exception. Last week the LA Times ran a story about a vacant lot in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles that has been farmed informally for more than a decade. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-garden19-2009jul19,0,1130136.story And yesterday I was invited to visit a community garden in Watts, a neighborhood that lies partly in the city of Los Angeles, and partly in an unincorporated area of the county. Better known as the locus for civil unrest in 1965 and folk art towers, Watts has a long history of farming. A 2 and 1/2 acre site that has been gardened as long as anyone can remember was recently acquired by the Watts Labor Community Action Committee, or WLCAC. WLCAC leaders Janine and Timothy Watkins shared with members of Project Food LA their plans to strengthen the ties between the community garden and the surrounding community-- particularly the youth.
Poor food options in Watts and adjacent neighborhoods in Los Angeles led the city last year to place a moratorium on the construction of fast food restaurants there. Healthy alternatives have moved in. Fresh and Easy opened a market in the area-- but some of the organic items were pulled because nobody was buying them. It's no secret that organic costs more. WLCAC hopes to create a market by educating the community about the benefits of fresh produce. The consumer is king. If they buy it, it will be sold.
Urban agriculture is not without controversy of course. Farms bring smells and noises that urban and suburban dwellers are not accustomed to. This week the Public Safety Committee recommended adoption of an ordinance that would limit the number of roosters that could be kept by city residents to one. How to bring the farm back to town without giving up the pleasures of urban life is something that still has to be worked out. But for now, anyway, crops are growing all over LA, even in Watts.