Ron Finley, an artist who decided to grow a vegetable garden on the street in front of his South Central Los Angeles home, was once issued a citation and threatened with arrest for his efforts. Instead of backing down, he got the community - and the news media - on his side and suddenly, the citation disappeared. Finley's observations about living in a food desert where people die of curable diseases and drop-in dialysis centers "pop up like Starbucks" absolutely resonate with me. I am on a bus or a train in New Jersey and New York just about everyday and the differences couldn't be more stark. On the New Jersey Transit train or the PATH train, there are people of various economic circumstances who ride it every day. Most get on the train without assistance and either pull out their iPad or Kindle if they aren't reading a newspaper or listening to music with their earphones. When I'm on the bus in New Jersey riding through Newark, I often see relatively young people walking with the assistance of a cane or in a very basic wheelchair. When I say relatively young, I mean people as young as thirty or forty. Finley's observations - and his hilarious, matter-of-fact delivery, resonates with me on so many levels. Highly recommended.
Ron Finley in front of his garden.