Community Services Unlimited and Food Justice in South Los Angeles

By Aubri Qian

for RAP USC

Food as Justice

Food is much more than what's on a plate. The power of food, and its connection to community, history, and political justice is what initially drew me to the work of Community Services Unlimited (CSU), a critical food justice organization in South Los Angeles.

Under its mission to “foster the creation of communities actively working to address the inequalities and systemic barriers that make sustainable communities and self-reliant lifestyles unattainable,” CSU engages in a number of sustainability and urban farming initiatives to develop local food systems within the community.

But, to appreciate CSU, it's important to recognize its roots. CSU was founded over 40 years ago by the Southern California chapter of the Black Panther Party who recognized that "hungry people cannot effectively organize for freedom." In 1969, according to former Panther Joan Kelly-Williams, the Southern California Black Panthers implemented their first free breakfast program at the Los Angeles Seventh-Day Adventist Church because they viewed hunger as one of the most tangible forms of oppression experienced by black and brown communities. Feeding people served as an important means for teaching about the limits and failures of capitalism, while providing tangible resources to the community. The Black Panthers understood the racialized nature of food, recognizing the role that immigrants have in producing the vast majority of food grown in the U.S., and the disparities in healthy food availability in low-income and neighborhoods of color.

As a result, feeding community as a revolutionary act has been a central tenant of the Black Panthers and follows through to CSU today. Much more than items on a plate, empowering a community to feed itself is social, spiritual, historical, and political work that bends and challenges Los Angeles' racialized landscape.

Photo of community members in South Los Angeles with the grocery bags from the Black Panther Party Free Food Program (source: https://csuinc.org/prcwc/sankofa-exhibit/)

Community Services Unlimited's Village Market Place located in the Paul Robeson Wellness Center

"Serving the people body and soul"

- Black Panther aphorism

CSU has remarkably expanded the scope of its food justice activities from its early days of distributing free breakfasts. CSU operates urban mini-farms in South LA such as the Expo Community Garden and hosts many urban farming training programs. In 2007, they started the Village Market Place to sell the fruits and vegetables that they and their network of local farmers grow directly to the community. They also offer culturally diverse cooking demonstrations – such as curried rice dishes and fruit chutneys.

CSU, as a grassroots food organization, is deeply ingrained in the South Los Angeles community. A majority of the organization’s staff are residents of South L.A., and the commitment to the community informs the decisions of the organization’s programming. In addition, the organization not only provides education and access to food resources but also grounds its work in an understanding of the history of South LA and the linkage of anti-blackness and the food desert phenomena.

Continuing the Legacy
of Paul Robeson

One of the key spaces for CSU is the Paul Robeson Community Wellness Center, located at 6569 S Vermont Ave. CSU recognized that amidst gentrification and the demand for their services and programs, they needed to create a more permanent centralized center.

When CSU was looking to find a new community space, the Paul Robeson estate was willing to sell the Paul Robeson Center to CSU, trusting the organization to continue Robeson's legacy. Paul Robeson was a legendary activist, actor, singer, athlete, and intellectual. Because of his outspoken progressive advocacy for labor, black rights, and anti-fascism he was severely targeted by the government during the McCarthy era.

Through community support and collaboration and flexible financing by the estate, CSU was able to purchase the Paul Robeson Center. In 2018, CSU opened the newly renovated Paul Robeson Community Wellness Center and Village Market Place Social Enterprise building. The center contains an urban farm, commercial kitchen, wellness space, and houses the VMP produce and grocery market. Most importantly, the center represents a community space that connects the network of community members, families, and activists working together striving towards food justice.

To celebrate the Paul Robeson Community Wellness Center, Kinship Filmworks produced "Champion" , a short film celebrating Paul Robeson's legacy, and the way his legacy and spirit connect to the mission and work of CSU.

Census Tracts with at least 25% of the Community Experiencing Low Access to Grocery Stores

The highlighted census tracts are areas where at least 1/4 residents have low access (defined as being greater than 0.5 miles) from grocery stores. (Source: USDA Food Access Research Atlas, 2019)

The systemic disenfranchisement of food resources and food apartheid of South L.A. has been studied and documented. Issues of food access, grocery quality, and food insecurity are not the only challenges faced by South Los Angeles. Rather, systemic disenfranchisement and racism have caused residents in South Los Angeles to face compounding layers of burden when it comes to food including but not limited to:

Low purchasing power of community members
Lack of quality food stores in the neighborhood
Over-reliance on convenience stores that charge relatively higher prices
Less transportation options for food shopping
Lack of access to charitable food programs

Bending Racist Landscapes

CSU does an incredible amount of work bending the food justice and food landscape of LA. Its location in the heart of South Los Angeles acts in defiance of these structural challenges. Their numerous programs and services create new streams of healthy food to spread in the food desert: distributing bags of groceries, running cooking demonstrations, educating community members and providing resources for community gardening, and providing subsidized fruits and vegetables for low-income residents.

The Village Marketplace is a direct challenge to a white spatial imaginary of South Los Angeles. A large wooden community table in the sunny café invites community members to sit together. "Beyond organic" produce - fruits and vegetables grown at CSU's urban mini-farms, local family farmers, and other organic growers surround the space. A display full of healthy afterschool snacks greets community members by the entrance.

Beyond the market and the café, the Robeson Center holds wellness classes in their multi-purpose rooms. Community groups seeking space to gather also rent and use these spaces. In addition, the center's commercial kitchen is an open and available resource for community. Local businesses and vendors rent the space, and products produced by local businesses in the commercial kitchen can be found in the Marketplace's shelves. The organization has also extended their network and built programs for community members to support each other. For example, produce bags sold outside of the neighborhood can be purchased at a voluntary supporter rate "for those who live outside our community and locals who can afford a higher price", which helps support programs and discounts for community members who use CalFresh, EBT, and other food assistance programs. CSU actively challenges systemic barriers to capital, pushes back against legacies of extractive capitalism, and strives to develop and connect local communities.

"What does it mean when your commitment and connection to place is valued
as much as your credit score?"
-Zaakiyah Brisker, Marketing Associate, CSU

Events and Collaborations with RAP

In 2017, RAP hosted " the Forward La: Race, Arts, and Inclusive Placemaking after the 1992 Civil Unrest conference". The conference, taking place 25 years after the 1992 LA Civil Unrest, was centered on the exploration and discussion of the ways Los Angeles had been reimagining itself, especially in the context of racial injustice, freedom, and opportunity.

Neelam Sharma, then Executive Director of Community Services Unlimited, joined RAP on a panel to discuss and examine how community-based organizations bend space through community gardens, farmer's markets, and healthy markets. In addition, the panel explored the relationship and role of food in the evolution of USC and its community relationships.

"You can't let a systemic structure, that you live within, tell you who you are" -
Neelam Sharma, former Co-Director of CSU

Robeson Community Center RAP Dialogues

In 2019, CSU and RAP partnered for a series of events and dialogues in celebration of the opening of the Paul Robeson Community Wellness Center. The conversation led by RAP faculty member Robeson Taj Frazier explored Paul Robeson's legacy and the role of arts and placemaking.

RAP Community Chats

During the RAP community meetings in December 2019, USC faculty members connected with community partners about the pleasures and challenges of collaboration. One of those conversations, between Neelam Sharma, former Co-Director of Community Services Unlimited and Professor François Bar of the USC Annenberg School was published here. In this conversation, Neelam and François discuss not only their collaborations, but also the challenges of breaking the barriers between USC and the community in South Los Angeles.

As part of Earth Day 2019, Francois Nion of @outfrontdecaux talks about the Bus Shelter Project to reimagine a bus shelter at the northbound Vermont/Cage bus stop by the Paul Robeson Wellness Center.

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