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GUEST: Tezozomoc, spokesperson for the South Central Farmers

Two years ago immigrant farmers were forced to give up an oasis of community farming in Los Angeles. The large open space at 41st and Alameda had remained empty for years when low-income families from South and Central America turned it into a agricultural experiment that sustainability fed many families in an urban area otherwise choking with industrial buildings and machinery. The South Central Farm occupied land owned by a developer named Ralph Horowitz who eventually succeeded in pushing the farmers off the land and bulldozing their plants and trees after a high profile battle with the farmers and their local activist allies. The battle garnered national media attention as movie stars squatted in trees and hundreds mobilized to save the farm. Now, that same land is to be the site of a massive warehouse that would bring even more air and noise pollution to the community. And the South Central Farmers are once more mobilizing their supporters to fight what they see as an unfair backroom deal between the city and the developer.

The farmers and their allies have planned a press conference and protest at City Hall on Wednesday July 2nd at 9 am on the front lawn. They will be demanding full environmental accountability. For more information, visit www.southcentralfarmers.com, or call 1800-249-5240.