The Garden

The Garden is an award winning documentary directed by Scott Hamilton Kennedy. The film tells the story of a group of urban Latino farmers in South Central Los Angeles and their struggle to keep their community garden. Although this film pertains to the local area of South Central L.A., the themes that can be drawn from the film are universal.

The documentary starts out with a description of how the community garden came to be. The infamous Los Angeles riots that began on April 29, 1992 had caused an estimated one billion dollars in property damages. It was proposed to turn the negative of the riots into a positive by turning some of the damaged area of the city into a community garden. The idea became a reality when the 14 acre garden was created in 1994 in the middle of South Central L.A., becoming the largest community garden in the United States. The plots of land in the urban farm became inhabited mostly if not completely by Latino families. This garden became the center of many of these people’s lives’ as they sold their crops to local markets for profit. The plots of land provided more than monetary support however. They were viewed by many as sacred, and were passed down through families. Countless hours of labor were put into these plots of land, and they were a source of pride and passion for those who had them.

Then one day the farmers arrived in the morning to begin their daily routine on their land only to find a notice of eviction. The reaction among the farmers ranged from confusion to anger. The farmers then received the news that the reason they were being evicted from the land was to make way for storage warehouses and a soccer field. This left the farmers wondering why it seemed like the land was being valued more than the people on it. Some of them thought it was because of the fact that they were Latino. As it turns out, although the land had been a community garden for so long it was actually the property of a man, Ralph Horowitz, who decided to take back the control of it. This obviously did not sit well with the farmers, so they explored their options and the potential ways to keep their garden. The farmers decided that the first step was to hire a lawyer. Once they had a lawyer, the farmers filed for and won a preliminary injunction against the eviction. This granted the farmers time until a more concrete decision on the fate of the eviction could be reached. In an attempt to have the farmers evicted as quickly as possible, Horowitz then filed an appeal against the temporary injunction, much to the farmers’ dismay.

As you can imagine the whole situation was very stressful on the farmers, as their lives, lifestyle, and livelihood were seemingly hanging in the balance. This led to some infighting between the farmers. One incident became so intense that one farmer attacked another with a machete, but he was stopped and arrested before any serious harm was inflicted. Stunningly, Horowitz won the appeal to revoke the temporary injunction and the farmers were given five weeks to clear off the land. As if to rub salt in their wounds, Horowitz then offered to sell the land to the farmers for $16.3 million. Aside from the dismal financial situations of the farmers, that amount of money was especially unreasonable as Horowitz had obtained the property from the city for a mere five million dollars, less than one third of what he was asking the farmers to pay. The farmers hoped that they could find a way to raise the money and be able to remain on the land, so they set out on a quest to generate publicity and public support. Many celebrities supported their cause and visited the garden including Zack de la Rocha of the band Rage Against the Machine, Willy Nelson, and Joan Baez, just to name a few. Miraculously, the farmers were able to raise the money and offered to buy the land from Horowitz, calling his bluff. Horowitz then pulled back the offer, refusing to sell the property. Sure enough, at the end of the five weeks, the garden was bulldozed, with a full police riot squad there to keep the devastated farmers off of the land and away from the demolition crew. The film ends showing that despite the fact that the garden had been torn down for two years, nothing had yet been built on the site as proposed.

The Garden contains themes that can be applied to areas outside of South Central Los Angeles. One theme that I drew from the movie is similar to that of the David vs. Goliath story. No matter how big the opposition is and no matter how small you are, you should never hesitate to stand up for yourself and fight for what you believe is right. The farmers did this by making themselves heard and by standing up to the “big guys” who had all the money and power when they had nothing. Another theme that I drew from this documentary is that no matter how much the odds may seem stacked against you, never quit or give in. The farmers were posed with the seemingly impossible task of raising $16.3 million. Despite this gargantuan task, they forged ahead and worked hard to raise the money, eventually raising the entire sum, an amazing feat. If they had felt sorry for themselves or doubted themselves they would not have been able to accomplish such a remarkable feat. Instead they accepted the challenge, and rose to the occasion. And though in the end they were not able to maintain possession of their farm, the farmers had nothing to be ashamed of. They worked and fought hard, focusing all of their time and attention to the cause. A final theme that I drew from The Garden is that justice often depends on money and political connections. The farmers did everything possible to keep their land, including raising an inordinate amount of money, yet the other side which had more money and political connections prevailed.