| Describe the location and your goals for your Intersection Mural. |
MudTown Farms, an Urban Agricultural Park: Transforming Watts from Food Desert to Edible City
The Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation, established in 1965. The agency’s mission is to improve the quality of life for the residents of Watts and neighboring communities. WLCAC offers a broad range of social service programs including senior nutrition and healthy aging services, urban greening, family and youth development programs, housing and homeless programs, job training, art and cultural exhibits, employment services, and home repair and weatherization programs.
The MudTown Farms project is located in one of the most impoverished areas of Los Angeles. Greater Watts is a 4.5 square-mile area, and home to four public housing developments, two of which are the largest in the city of Los Angeles and collectively account for 37% of all of its public housing. According to the USDA Food Access Research Atlas, the project area is a food desert where a significant number of residents are low-income and have low access to food. The median household income for the project area is $30,845 year, compared to $55,452 for the Los Angeles County as a whole. The California State Parks Community Fact Finder reports there are 14,432 residents within a ½ mile radius of the project site, of whom 5,902 or 41% live below the poverty line.
WLCAC is currently developing MudTown Farms, a 2.5 acre farm in Watts which will serve as an urban agricultural park. The farm will include innovative features which include a community center, greenhouse and hydroponics gardens, an orchard, flower gardens, raise beds, exercise stations, walking paths, and an outdoor classroom. MudTown Farms is designed as a unique urban farm and training center, providing access to healthy food, recreation and fitness programs, conservation strategies and healthy living practices.
MudTown Farms will feature an interactive network of farming, education, and recreational programs. MudTown Farms seeks to transform the community of Watts from a food desert to an edible city, focusing on the relationship between food, culture, health and the environment. It will serve as an experiment in community resilience through food. MudTown Farms programs include strategies for improving access to safe food through recreational activities, and promotion of food independence. MudTown Farms will foster connections by promoting programs that encourage community-driven regenerative food systems.
MudTown Farms Features:
• Aquaponics Towers
• Community Center
• Event Space
• Exercise Equipment
• Flower Gardens
• Growing Grounds
• Orchard
• Outdoor Classroom
• Outdoor Kitchen
• Recycling & Compost Stations
• Walking Paths
MudTown Farms will encourage healthy living practices by creating programs that advocate for local sources of quality fruits and vegetables, provide nutrition information and hands-on demonstrations of food preparation techniques, and provide a safe space for physical activity through gardening and other forms of exercise.
MudTown Farms Programs Summary:
• Public Education
• Youth Training
• Farm to School/School to Farm
• Senior Activities
• Therapeutic/Supportive Services
• Volunteer Program
• Yardner’s Certification Program
• Community Food Hub
• Farm Camp
The proposed MudTown Farms Yardner Program seeks to train local residents in the fundamentals of urban farming, while creating community-based urban mini-farms, utilizing front and backyard spaces. Local residents will learn farm design and growing methods that include but are not limited to conservation techniques, soil science and remediation, crop planning and seasons, composting, sowing seeds and transplanting, holistic wildlife and pest management. Program participants will also learn farming business practices that include marketing, developing value-added products, and becoming certified nurseries and produce dealers.
The long-term goals of the MudTown Farms Yardner Program include the following:
1) Teach local residents self-sufficiency, healthy living, and environmental stewardship through urban farming;
2) Increase food security throughout Watts and South Los Angeles by creating community-driven food systems;
3) Maximize under-utilized land through local property owners.
The Goals for MudTown Farms Intersection Mural
The Intersection Mural will sit on the corner of Grape Street and 103rd Street, which is directly across the street from Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary School, and diagonally across from a Metro bus stop. The mural will showcase a colorful display of children and people interacting in a pleasant environment, including a garden and sun filled background to light up the area’s surroundings, and add another layer to the exciting, innovative launch of MudTown Farms. The Intersection Mural will also set the tone for diverse interactions with the community and those involved in daily activities at MudTown Farms. WLCAC envisions an interactive Intersection Mural which will welcome and showcase MudTown Farms as a venue where home organic gardeners, horticulturists, children, and the community at large can come to connect, plant, grow, nurture, eat, and thrive. WLCAC envisions Mudtown Farms as a place where the community proudly gathers to celebrate a healthy, lifestyle creation that was purposefully installed in the community of Watts by Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC). The Intersection Mural on the corner of Grape Street and 103rd Street will compliment all that WLCAC and the community embrace in this era of diverse inclusivity and the celebration of all lives.
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