In many parts of Los Angeles County, access to fresh fruit and vegetables is taken for granted: oranges, lemons and grapefruit, lettuce, tomatoes, beans and zucchini are staples in a smorgasbord of options for consumers seeking fresh produce.
But in the concrete-locked neighborhoods south of downtown Los Angeles, options for obtaining healthy produce are severely limited. According to the County Dept. of Public Health, only about a quarter of residents who live within South Los Angeles rate the quality of food where they shop as high.
Only 13 percent consume the recommended five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day. That is why one important component of eradicating such deserts is the community garden: Six hundred square feet of cultivated land, for example, can produce 300 pounds of fresh produce per season.
To that end, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas applauds the Board of Supervisors for action taken yesterday approving a ground lease for the South Central Farmers Health and Education Fund for $1 per year. Also, as part of his advocacy for garden, the Supervisor contributed $40,000 for site remediation, an undertaking that was essential to prepare the site for planting.
The board’s decision not only moves forward the development of a community garden in the unincorporated West Athens/Westmont area, it launches the Supervisor’s effort to support local, grass-root interventions to address food deserts throughout the Second Supervisorial District.
