Plot

From the ashes of the L.A. riots arose a lush, 14-acre community garden, the largest of its kind in the United States. Now bulldozers threaten its future.

The 14 acre community garden in South Central Los Angeles was the largest of it's kind in the United States. It was started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992. Since that time, the South Central Farmers have created a miracle in one of the country's most blighted neighborhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. Creating a community. But now bulldozers threaten their oasis. The Garden is an unflinching look at the struggle between these urban farmers and the City of Los Angeles and a powerful developer who want to evict them and build warehouses.—Anonymous

The Garden is a 2008 documentary film directed by Scott Hamilton Kennedy. It tells the story of the now demolished South Central Farm; a community garden and urban farm located in In the aftermath of the 1992 L.A. riots, something truly remarkable happened at the intersection of 41st Street and Alameda Avenue thanks to an uncharacteristically charitable move by the city government; where once existed a barren field littered with garbage and syringes suddenly appeared a 14-acre community garden. Dubbed the South Central Farm, the produce garden soon began yielding fresh lettuce, ripe tomatoes, and sweet papayas. Now the local farmers could enjoy their own crops rather than relying on food stamps for subsistence. Not only that, but it also replaced a scene of urban blight with a scene of unusual beauty. For over a decade, the South Central Farm thrived, though in December of 2003 it appeared that the days of this inner-city oasis may be numbered. As the farmers receive eviction notices and bulldozers prepare to level the garden to make room for warehouses, filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy documents the two-and-a-half-year court battle to save the South Central Farm. [D-Man2010]

Los Angeles, California. The Garden details the plight of the farmers who organized and worked on the farm only to see it sold to a private contractor and threatened with demolition. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature on 22 January 2009. [D-Man2010]