Documentary and Donuts: “The Garden”

Stop by the library on the second Friday of each month for coffee, donuts, and a documentary film showing. Title of the month: The Garden: Fighting for an LA Urban Garden (2008). The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since 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 are poised to level their 14-acre oasis. The Garden follows the plight of the farmers, from the tilled soil of this urban farm to the polished marble of City Hall. Mostly immigrants from Latin America, from countries where they feared for their lives if they were to speak out, we watch them organize, fight back, and demand answers. Each film is a part of the library’s collection through Kanopy, an on-demand streaming video platform for thoughtful entertainment.