Prologue

On a mild fall day in 2008, I spent an afternoon unloading a manure truck as a volunteer at a South Central Los Angeles community garden that was part of the food justice nonprofit Food for All.I was the only volunteer willing to work with the manure that day, so I spent a lot of time talking to Miguel, the staff member unloading the truck.Born and raised in South Central, Miguel started at Food for All as an intern in high school and was working his way up in the organization.He did not say much but had a gentle, calming presence that made me feel at ease in the garden.As we shoveled manure into the wheelbarrow, which we rolled into the garden and dumped into various vegetable beds, I asked him basic questions about Food for All: Why does the organization do the work that it does?What kinds of people volunteered there?Who did they hope to serve?And why?I felt excited to be volunteering, to literally put my hands in the dirt and use my body in a way that was very different from my everyday life as a doctoral student. 1 That day was one of my first volunteer experiences with a food justice organization, and I was immediately struck by the demographics of the other volunteers.Three college students came from West Los Angeles; it was also their first time volunteering with Food for All.A graduate student from a local state college had been a semiregular volunteer.All had traveled from more affluent parts of Los Angeles, like the beach community of Santa Monica or Brentwood, Westwood, and Century City, nestled between the ocean and Beverly Hills.They had traveled by car Prologue