By This summer, we’re expanding into more neighborhoods around Los Angeles, and we can’t wait to open our new store in Compton! While the location is not scheduled to open for another few months, we already started digging in with the Compton Initiative at the Compton Community Gardens. Joining volunteers of all ages, from all over the world, we worked together to plant fresh fruits and veggies for the summer’s harvest.
This area has long been marked as a food desert, meaning there is limited access to healthy food options. That ain’t right. Healthy food is a human right, no matter your zip code. People in Compton started community gardens to produce fresh, nutritious food for the neighborhood, which (as they share on their website) helps achieve a lot of different goals:
• Providing easier access to organic food in a health food desert
• Reducing family food budgets
• Conserving environmental and economic resources
• Creating opportunities for recreation, exercise, therapy, and education
• Providing a catalyst for neighborhood and community development
• Helping create jobs in the neighborhood
• Reducing crime
• Helping beautify neighborhoods
• Improving the quality of life for people in and around the Gardens
Young children who grow food in these gardens are able to build a deeper connection to healthy foods, learn about sustainability, and even get to sell their harvest to local businesses. We were excited to be involved in even a small part of this year’s efforts, and to plant alongside so many passionate people. Through efforts like these, we can unite to bring food justice to this community and beyond.
We look forward to serving more nutritious fresh food to Compton this summer! Stay tuned for our grand opening and more exciting events to come.