food bank garden in S. Central LA is threatened

**"Sandy Pernitz" S*@Seattle.Gov**

Hi ACGAers,
We sent this out to all our community gardeners and thought it should make it to the national arena...here's hoping it is still there for the 2006 conference.

A 14 acre food bank community garden in South Central LA is threatened by 
development. Their story is on their website and in the open letter 
below.

http://www.saveourgarden.com/savethegardenFrameset.htm 

SOUTH CENTRAL FARMERS

CONTACT: Gina Aparacio - (323) 276-0322 or j*@yahoo.com 

Tezozomoc - (323) 232-8316 or t*@hotmail.
com 

MEDIA ADVISORY * MEDIA ADVISORY

PRESS CONFERENCE - PHOTO OP

WHEN: Wednesday, September 7, 2005 at 10:00 A.M.
WHERE: Los Angeles City Hall, Main Street Entrance
WHO: SOUTH CENTRAL FARMERS FEEDING FAMILIES

FOOD FOR 1,000 FAMILIES BEING DESTROYED. THE HEALTH OF THE COMMUNITY IS 
BEING
JEOPARDIZED.

CALIFORNIA NURSES ASSOCIATION, members of THE AFRICAN AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
OF
L.A. COUNTY FIREFIGHTERS, doctors from UCLA FAMILY MEDICINE, and the 
NAACP,
SOUTH CENTRAL COALITION and LA RED XICANA INDIGENA JOIN IN DEMANDING 
HEALTHY
FOOD AND MEDICINE FOR SO. CENTRAL L.A. FAMILIES.

In the middle of the inner-city poverty of South Central Los Angeles, the 
South
Central Farmers are feeding families with serious food that includes 
cabbage,
potatoes, carrots tomatoes, cactus and other staples. The South Central 
Farmers
have creatively turned a section of inner-city squalor into a life 
sustaining
farm that feeds marginalized working class families of Los Angeles. The 
Farm is
scheduled for destruction.

For the past 12 years, the South Central Farmers have worked to transform
14-acres of vacant land into a farm that meets the needs of a community
regularly ignored and neglected by the City and its "elected" representativ
es.
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 provide a safe "haven" that welcomes
families and community.

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, 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."

We demand that the City keep these families off "welfare" and protect this
14-acre green space. We demand that the City play an active role to 
prevent
further environmental pollution and degradation of inner city neighborhoods
by
protecting this life-sustaining farm. We demand that the City write a law 
and
laws that keep the fresh foods grown by the South Central Farmers feeding
children and families living in poverty in South Central Los Angeles; put 
people
before profit. We demand that energy and resources be allocated to 
maintain this
life sustaining green space cultivated by the South Central Farmers.

LIST OF SUPPORTERS

N.A.A.C.P. Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana
South Central Coalition Mexican-American Political Association 
Metro Region
(MAPA)
Labor Party Praxis Southern California Anarchist Federation 
(SCAF)
Dome Village Toma Esperanza
Food not Bombs Mujeres Libres
La Red Xicana Indigena UCLA Family Medicine
Brown Berets Ferderacion-Casa Poblana
Olive Branches Radical Women
A.N.S.W.E.R. LA Zack de La Rocha
KPFK Radio Collective 
International Socialist Organization (ISO) 
Devon G. Pena, Ph.DPena Land Conservation and Restoration, LLC and 
Professor of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle
Service Employees Intern'l Union (SEIU) Latino Cmte. 
Carecen 
Julie Chavez, Cesar Chavez Foundation Unity Corps
L.A. Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness USC Graduate 
Students
L.A. Food Justice Network AD46 Calif. State Central Cmte. - 
Fabian Nuqez
Academia Avance USC Alumni
Jefferson High School Adult School Code Pink
California Nurse's Association (CNA) La Tierra es de Todos 
Coalition
African American Association of L.A. County Firefighters LA 
Coalition Against
Raid and in Support of
South Central Alameda Neighborhood Council Immigrant 
Rights
Mujeres de Maiz Hermandad Mexicana
Los Angeles Indigenous Peoples Alliance (LAIPA) Soho Foundation -- 
Estonia
Dolores Huerta Foundation Physicians for Social Responsibilit
y Los Angeles
Latino Urban Forum CHIRLA
20th Street School in South Central L.A. Allianza Indigena

_______________________________________________
Southcentralfarmers mailing list
Southcentralfarmers@electrolandia.com 
http://www.electrolandia.com/mailman/listinfo/southcentralfarmers 

Thanks for your time,
Sandy Pernitz
Community Garden Coordinator
P-Patch Program/Dept. of Neighborhoods
"To see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower.  Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and sierenity in an hour."  William Blake
We have moved! NEW ADDDRESS
Department of Neighborhoods
700 5th Avenue Suite 1700
PO Box 94649
Seattle, WA 98124-4649
sandy.pernitz@seattle.gov
206-684-0284

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