From Cows to Concrete: The Rise and Fall of Farming in Los Angeles follows farming in LA from the earliest pueblo cornfields, to the struggles of farm workers, to the rise of the environmental movement. It tells the epic tale of how agriculture forged Los Angeles into an urban metropolis, and how, ultimately, this farming empire spurred the very growth that paved it over, as sprawling suburbs swallowed up thousands of acres of prime farmland.
As Americans connect with gardens, farmers markets, and urban farms, most are unaware that each of these activities have deep historic roots in Los Angeles, and that the healthy food people savor literally flourished in L.A. for decades. This book tells the story in full splendor, for all who treasure the agrarian history of America.
Authors Rachel Surls and Judith Gerber tell the continuing story of how, on the same land once squandered by corporate greed and “progress,” urban farmers are making inroads to a greener future. More than 150 vintage images expand the fascinating, detailed history.
Co-author Rachel Surls, Ph.D., is the Sustainable Food Systems Advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles County. She has been involved with school gardens, community gardens, and urban agriculture around Los Angeles for more than twenty-five years. She holds two degrees in agricultural sciences.
Co-author Judith Gerber, a second-generation Angeleno, is a farm and garden authority who has written about sustainable and urban farming, local foods, and organic gardening for more than twenty years. She is the author of Farming in Torrance and the South Bay (2008).