The Gardening Revolution

Ron Finley is a man who is consistently on the move promoting the consumption of healthy foods. Finley grew up in South Los Angeles, which he describes in his Technology Entertainment and Design (TED) speech, as a food desert due to the lack of fresh produce. Having to make missions of driving 45 minutes to get an apple that has not been impregnated with pesticides, caused Finley to question why his neighborhood was lacking resources such as fresh produce. Through evaluating and questioning, he came to discover that the lack of healthier foods had taken a toll in his area. Noticing problems in his community such as obesity, lack of access to healthy food, and the impact on children, caused him to create gardens that would provide better nourishment, food to families in need, and activities for youth. Finley realized the lack of access to healthier foods was a major contributor to the obesity in South Central Los Angeles. Finley claims “the obesity rate in my neighborhood is five times higher than Beverly Hills, which is only about eight to ten miles away.” The city of South Los Angeles had dialysis centers opening more and more, people of the community buying wheelchairs as if they were used cars. Seeing that, Finley started looking at his community to try and figure out why is was difficult to obtain healthy food. His findings changed the way he viewed his surroundings, which drove him to take the action of planting a food forest on the curbside of his house, in order to provide better nourishment in addition to educate the community on healthy eating.
The community of South Los Angeles having nowhere to go for fresh produce, inspired Finley to create the curbside garden. His curbside garden were his first attempts to combat the lack of access to healthy food. As a result, his vegetable garden inspired the community to eat healthier. Being that he shares a story, “I remember this time, there was this mother and a daughter came, it was, like, 10:30 at night, and they were in my yard, and I came out and they looked so ashamed.” As a result of this, Finley noticed how hungry people were. Shocked by his discovery, this situation opened his eyes to how beneficial his garden had become. Therefore stating “that's why it's on the street. That's the whole idea. I want them to take it, but at the same time, I want them to take back their health." Which then brought him to plant a garden in a homeless shelter, and the people instantly remembered planting with their mothers and grandmothers.
With the expansion of his garden Finley begun to have an impact on the children. Gardening did not become just about health but a tool of education for kids. “If kids grow kale, kids eat kale. If they grow tomatoes, they