1.
Ron Finley is a gardener, activist, and community leader who set out to make a change in the whole
food availability in his town of South Central, Los Angeles. According to his personal website he
grew up in this town, which is one of the many food deserts in our country("The Ron Finley
Project", 2021) . This means that access to fresh whole foods is extremely limited, forcing the
members of a particular community to buy foods lacking in nutritional content from places like
convenience stores. South LA is also deemed to be the most dangerous place in all of LA, with a
dense population and high poverty rate (Rastegar, 2017). Ron Finley knew that food was the
problem contributing the poor health and chronic disease rates among his neighbors, as well as
knowing that it was also the solution. He started a food revolution in his town, which has earned
international attention and praise. This revolution started with using the city-owned strip of land
between the street and the sidewalk called the “parkways” in front of his own home. He
transformed this into a community garden where he encouraged people to grab their own fresh
produce, and has since started over 20 more gardens in his community. He is redefining the what
“gangsta” means and has encouraged community members and the youth to use their abilities and
efforts into reshaping the landscape and giving health back to their community (Ted-Ed, 2011). He
also started The Ron Finley Project, which envisions the food deserts of our nation becoming food
forests("The Ron Finley Project", 2021) .
2. I am startled by how much fresh produce could be planted on land others have considered
“unusable”! A tomato has truly earned its “super food” title, with amazing nutritional value. In the
article “Tomatoes 101: Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits” by RDN Adda Bjarnadottir. she notes that
one small whole tomato is a great source for water soluble vitamin C,and B9 (folate) as well as fat
soluble vitamin K. It is also loaded with potassium. Tomatoes are excellent sources of healthy
carbohydrates with 3.9 grams packed into one. It also contains about 95% water, and is a mere 18
calories. There are 2.6 grams of natural sugar, 1.2 grams of fiber, 0.9 grams of protein, and 0.2 grams
fat. There are an abundance of health benefits associated with eating tomatoes, including reduced risk
of heart disease and certain types of caners. Since they are rich in lycopene, which has been linked with
protecting the skin from sunburns (Bjarnadottir, 2019) .
3. When Ron Finely described the return on investment he noted that investing in one cheap plant
will provide thousands of seeds. This then turns into more plants, all while they are providing the
community with an abundance of food. He notes that a simple dollars worth of green beans will
give us seventy-five dollars worth of produce (Ted-Ed, 2011). Money aside though, he is also
saying that this return on investment goes much deeper than that. When we invest in our health, we
will reap enormous benefits including prevention of chronic disease. Small investments today like
eating whole fruits and vegetables allows us to experience a healthier body in both the present and
in the future.
4. It is startling to me that the city pushed back so hard on this beautiful initiative by Mr. Finley.
The garden he planted was entirely more beautiful than plain old grass, as well as providing
community members with nutritious fruits and vegetables. There were many action steps that Ron
Finley did to earn this respect of the community including transforming his own parkway into a
food forest, creating a petition on Change.org that gained over 900 signatures, interviewing with
Steve Lopez and the LA times to raise awareness, risking citations, risking warrens for his arrest.
Luckily after this national attention a city councilmen backed his case and after a drawn out in a
five year battle many beautiful outcomes were generated. There are now over 20 gardens in the
city, they are able to help feeding the hungry community members, he is helping homeless shelters,
travels the world do workshops and seminars. He even teaches a master gardening class online
now. He is also teaching children life skills and reshaping the idea of gardening as being gangsta
and cool. He also envisions creating large oasis garden filled with a myriad of fruits and veggies,
which will in turn help provide jobs to community members.
5. It struck me to hear that LA city owns the equivalent to 20 central parks and were over 725
million tomato plants could be grown, yet how most of it is currently wasted space. It made me
think of all the parkways in my own neighborhood, and how they could be reshaped into usable
areas. I was sickened to hear how hard the city pushed back against such a simple yet amazing
movement, and it made me wonder how many people would be preventing from making a positive
a change because of fear of arrest. The ray of sunshine I see is that Mr. Finley was able to garner a
huge national and international backing, and that his movement is so successful that he is able to
travel the country doing seminars and inspiring change in communities outside of LA.
Chronic food insecurity has many devastating effects. The USDA National Health Interview
Survey concluded that food insecure households were 18% more likely to suffer chronic conditions
("Food Insecurity and Chronic Disease | The Institute for Functional Medicine", n.d.) . These
include cancer, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease, asthma, coronary heart disease. Children who
grow up with food insecurity are much more likely to develop one of these chronic diseases, as
well as demonstrating poorer eating behavior. Food insecurity also increases healthcare costs, and
forces families to have to choose between eating and other necessities like shelter and medical
interventions.
6. I chose this picture because I think it is another great example of how we can transform urban areas
into food forests instead of deserts. This is an example of rooftop farming, and takes the often wasted
space on flat city buildings, and turns them into areas where food can be grown. This is another great
option because there is an abundance of sun on the rooftops, making it an ideal “farm”.
References
Bjarnadottir, A. (2019). Tomatoes 101: Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits. Retrieved 11 January 2021,
from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/tomatoes#benefits
Food Insecurity and Chronic Disease | The Institute for Functional Medicine. Retrieved 11 January
2021, from https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/food-insecurity-chronic-disease/
Rastegar, M. (2017). 50 Most Dangerous Areas in Los Angeles California | Criminal Statistics.
Retrieved 11 January 2021, from https://esfandilawfirm.com/most-dangerous-neighborhoods-losangeles/
Ted-Ed. (2011). A Guerilla Garden in South Central LA-Ron Finley. [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_gardener_in_south_central_la
The Ron Finley Project. (2021). Retrieved 11 January 2021, from http://ronfinley.com/the-ron-finleyproject/