Crop Swap LA: Cultivating Community Across District 2

Green space, park access, and trees

South LA

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Crop Swap LA was founded in part due to systemic barriers resulting from a legacy of privilege and segregation that has left South LA with lower services and a significantly more hazardous built environment. Decades of redlining, disinvestment, overdevelopment, and environmental racism have left many communities with fewer parks, more pollution, and limited access to fresh food.
This lack of access to green space and its benefits result in profound and well-documented consequences for individual and community well-being. Studies link limited exposure to nature with higher rates of chronic stress, anxiety, and depression. Children in neighborhoods without parks are more likely to experience obesity, asthma, and developmental delays. Communities without green infrastructure also face disproportionate impacts from urban heat, air pollution, and flooding. All of these outcomes can be observed in South Los Angeles.

Crop Swap LA’s proposed workshop series offers a tangible, community-rooted response: transforming public parks into accessible, educational spaces where residents can reclaim agency over their health and environment. By combining food-growing skills, nature-based learning, and guided exploration of park features, each event builds confidence, connection, and a sense of belonging in spaces too often overlooked. These workshops won’t just invite people into the park for a day, but seek to foster lasting relationships with land, community, and possibility.
By situating workshops in underserved South LA County parks, the organization will leverage existing community assets and offer a new way to interact with them. The hands-on, culturally relevant programming invites residents to see parks not only as recreational sites but as vital community resources that support health, food security, and social cohesion. Offering supplies and education empowers participants to extend their learning beyond the park, cultivating food at home and deepening their connection to nature. Additionally, the guided park tours reveal often-unrecognized natural assets: native plants, fruit trees, and ecological features, which will encourage stewardship and frequent return visits. Through repeated engagement, these workshops help normalize park use and foster safer, more vibrant public spaces that reflect and serve the diverse needs of South LA residents.

If successful, this initiative will cultivate a new cohort of over 300 park and community stewards across South LA, empowered with practical skills in food growing, environmental stewardship, and park engagement. These individuals will not only transform their own homes and neighborhoods through urban agriculture but also become active advocates for healthier, greener, and more equitable public spaces. By fostering a culture of stewardship and connection to nature, the program will help shift perceptions of local parks from underused or unsafe areas into vibrant community hubs. Over time, this will contribute to improved public health, increased food security, stronger social ties, and greater environmental resilience throughout Los Angeles County.