Introduction
It is difficult to imagine a relationship between a community and an effort stronger than that in the documentary, Save the Farm. The “farm,” 14 acres in the middle of downtown Los Angeles, was entirely a community project, and one in which the people invested in and shared the work and vegetables grown in the unusual environment. It is then hardly surprising that the farm’s being destroyed by a land developer generated widespread and extreme protests. Unfortunately, the farm was lost, and this in itself raises serious questions about how cities function and their innate responsibility to the residents. Nonetheless, and as the following reveals, Save the Farm powerfully makes it clear that the concepts of environmental justice, sustainability, institution, and mutual constitution are living forces, and may work together to make important differences in urban settings.
Discussion
To begin with, the South Central Farm represented environmental justice gone wrong. More exactly, the legal and financial maneuvers surrounding the taking of the land underscore how such justice, in place, may be corrupted. Environmental justice existed as long as the farm was maintained, because the citizens caring for it were fully respectful of one another and the urban environment itself. The farm met more than one need; it provided organic food, it enabled a community marketplace promoting interaction in positive ways, and it was a focus for the well-being of the community on creating the natural in an artificial setting. Injustice, however, became the greater force. On one level, developer Ralph Horowitz’s claim to the land was not of itself unjust. He had a legal and legitimate interest in the property, and he deserved as much justice as anyone else in the community. On another, however, his actions represented a disregard for the area so great, he himself was the core of the injustice eventually destroying the farm. Horowitz’s refusal to sell the land to the farmers at the highly inflated price of $16.3 million is evidence of an actual intent to be unjust. It must also be questioned how the courts could have supported Horowitz in so short-sighted a way, and ignored the immense and obvious value of the farm to the city. What the documentary then exposes is a case of active environmental justice brought down by forces of injustice.
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Regarding institution, more than one is evident in the film. Most importantly, the farmers and the people created the social mechanism of institution with the farm itself. It was an actual arena of social engagement, and one clearly encouraging healthy participation and relationships within the community. It existed in this form as well as a financial institution, with the weekly markets adding to the incomes of those working the farm and selling organic produce at reasonable prices. Running contrary to all of this, however, was the larger institution of the legal system supporting Horowitz. This was also a social mechanism, if only in that it ignored the realities of the community and consequently had an enormous social impact in permitting the farm to be destroyed. The same negative element of institution as impacting on the social was seen in the police abuse of the non-violent protesters. In all the interactions, institution was then a powerful and varied factor.
On a more positive note, the farm was impressive proof of how sustainability may be a vital force in an artificial environment. The nature of any farm goes to sustainable use, and the farmers of Los Angeles understood the cycles of growth and the need to maintain the acres in such a way as to assure continued growth. This in turn reflected a strong understanding of conservation and the need to protect all natural resources, particularly as the farm existed in so urban an environment. Sustainable use is also evident in how the produce was distributed throughout the area by the market. As residents purchased the foods, they assisted in promoting the efforts of the farmers, and a larger cycle of social sustainability was created. It must as well be reinforced how this natural conservation and sustainability was created and maintained in the heart of an urban arena.
Mutual constitution is also evident in a number of ways in this situation. To begin with, there was in place the interdependent form of mutual constitution, as each farmer worked for the larger goal of sustaining the farm, which in turn supported further efforts, It is very clear from the documentary that the citizens felt a strong bond with the farm, which translates to connectedness with one another in this common interest. The relationships were obviously exponential; the group gained from the individuals, as the individuals were empowered by the group presence and efforts. The community culture itself was shaped by this relationship, as it is clear that those involved were influenced on individual levels. That the farmers and the residents of the area fought so actively to hold onto the farm underscores this constitution all the more. Another form of mutual constitution seen here goes to the many celebrities who made public stands for the preservation of the farm. Each celebrity was a unique and known individual, and the fact of their celebrity as focused on the cause created mutual constitution; their appeal to those outside the city, to generate support for the cause, brought a wider public into the realm of mutual constitution.
Conclusion
Save the Farm is a disturbing documentary, and mainly because it exposes how a unique and beneficial public undertaking, clearly going to the welfare of all concerned, can fall victim to business interests and the laws in place to uphold them, even when this goes to blatantly acting against the public interest. It is tragic but genuine forms of sustainability, environmental justice, and positive institution in the social behaviors generated by the farm were not enough to overcome the negative elements. Ultimately, however, Save the Farm irrefutably reveals that the concepts of environmental justice, sustainability, institution, and mutual constitution are vital forces, and may work together to make important differences in urban settings.
