Over the past several years I have gotten very interested in growing things. It started with a need to get some grass to grow, then the entire lawn, and then growing a garden. Nothing was as fulfilling like growing your own food, and my interest around grass diminished as I tried out more and more food plants in the garden beds.

Over this time, I’ve reflected more and more about growing food, not only because it can be cost efficient, but that it’s a much healthier, fresher, and tastier option to grow it yourself. Then I began to think more about who needs food the most, and I began to reflect on ideas around food in cities, especially in areas considered food deserts.

Then my wife shared this video with me:

I hadn’t heard of Ron Finley before and I checked it out. There were so many parallels to things that I had been thinking about around growing food in the city, but I never would have thought about growing in park strips. This is a man who lives among the problem and did something to fix it.

The biggest impression he left on me was his attitude about food deserts. They aren’t living in a food desert. People in inner city areas are living in a “food prison.”

There are multiple reasons on why people would benefit from growing food. Finley discovered what’s probably the most important of them all. Freedom.

I’ll save my thoughts, about things I want to do around helping others to grow food, for future posts. Instead, take the time to learn about Ron Finley and his work in Los Angeles and be inspired like I was.