Growing as the Trees Grow: a Study of Human-Tree Interactions as Food Justice in South Central Los Angeles

Abstract

This paper explores multispecies relationships forged within localized economies through collective practices of harvesting and redistributing produce from residential trees. Ethnographic research is focused on programs implemented by the non-profit, Collective Care (CC), as they align with the ideals of food justice and work to combat food apartheid in South Central Los Angeles. Using theories proposed by Sidney Mintz and Anna Tsing, this thesis argues that CC represents a unique food system, in contrast to dominant models of industrial agriculture. Part I discusses how CC is closely oriented around the natural cycles of growth, dormancy, and decay and how these slow modalities help construct reciprocal relationships. Part II focuses on issues of ownership and how barriers to homeownership necessitates alternative understandings of property. This thesis situates multispecies theories within a food justice framework and offers new ways of considering the role of non-human actors in constructing community and interspecies wellbeing.