Civil Eats

Last week, I sat riveted at the Horticultural Society of New York while watching a screening of the 2008 Oscar-nominated documentary, The Garden, a tour de force that pits a 14-acre community garden in South Central Los Angeles, run by mostly Latin American immigrants, against a wealthy developer with questionable city ties. A powerful treatise on power and racial discord, The Garden tells the story of farmers who organize to fight back against backroom deals to try and save their green urban oasis. [spoiler alert] Read More

What do you get when you mix L.A. sunshine, a collection of artists and an obscure state law? The Fallen Fruit project.

A few years ago, artist/activist and CalArts professor Matias Viegener stumbled across a California law stating that any fruit that grows on or over public land is community property, even if the trunk is rooted in a private yard. In LA, that means both bounty and variety of fruit. Read More