This article was taken from the March 2016 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Ron Finley plants vegetable gardens -- in abandoned plots of land along kerbs and in central reservations on freeways in South Central Los Angeles. The self-described "gangsta gardener" became frustrated with his local area's lack of access to healthy food, so he took to planting fresh produce in 2010. "The food supplied to these neighbourhoods was making us sick," Finley says. "It's supposed to give us health, but a lot of what we eat is totally devoid of nutrition because of the way it's grown."
Finley's activity got him in trouble with the City of Los Angeles, which owns the neglected land. He campaigned for years before the City Council performed a U-turn to allow residents to plant vegetable patches without a permit. "I'm elated, but it's something politicians should have dealt with years ago." Finley says. "I call it bureaucratic ass-dragging."
Now, through the Ron Finley Project, he's aiming to transform South LA from "a food desert to a food forest", by running community events and workshops that empower people to grow their own hyperlocal food. "This is how we can break our chains and create a new system," Finley says.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
