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Guerrilla Gardener

In: Philosophy and Psychology

Submitted By dthomas010296
Words 451
Pages 2
Dana Smith
January 28, 2016
STUDIO 1
“A Guerilla Gardener in South Central LA” Response

Watching A Guerilla Gardener in South Central LA has truly opened my eyes to what It is like to live in a food desert. I have never heard of that phrase before watching this Ted Talk. That is a luxury that I take for granted as a girl who was raised in a farm town with an abundance of supermarkets and farmer’s markets. I never realized how hard fresh food is to come by in low-income areas like South Central, LA. Ron Finley was seeing his neighbors’ health declining more and more, wheelchairs being purchased and sold like used cars, and dialysis stores “popping up like Starbucks”. He made a statement that made the reality of this situation even more real. He says, “drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys”. Can you even imagine that? The burger we eat is killing more people than bullets flying from a moving car.
All it really takes is one person to step up and make a change. Finley saw that people his age were near their deathbeds and the generation coming up following in the footsteps placed before them. He realized that these fast foods were an issue and did something about it. His organization ‘LA Green Grounds’ consist of everyday people who want to see a change in their community. They plant orange trees, apple trees, potatoes, kale, aad things of the like all of South Central. This organization is improving their community by simply planting fruits and vegetables one lot at a time.
90% of the time kids will eat whatever you put in front of them--unless it is green. Which makes up the other 10%. Children don’t like to eat healthy foods and that is a universal fact. It looks different so it makes them more apprehensive than they would be to any other food. They question what it is, where it came from, how it is made, why they have to eat it, and so on and so forth. Finley points out that if kids grow kale; they eat kale. Simple as that. They put the work into it and feel rewarded after it is planted. Give it time to grow and by the time it reaches their plate, they can’t wait to gobble it up.
Fresh food is a necessity and when areas within a food desert are examined, that fact is further supported. It is on us to make our communities, upcoming generations, and the world aware that food deserts are real and its effects are deadly. So, let’s be “Guerilla Gangsters” and do something about it.

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