From Food Desert to Agricultural Oasis

10 Days in Watts Documentary Offers an Exportable Vision of Community

By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor

Watts is usually only remembered as an exclamation point punctuating the end of several days of rage following the brutalization of a black resident 55 years ago. Or simply a symbol of broken promises and neglect.

What should be talked about more is the fact that Watts is a food desert — a community with too few quality food sources.

But a PBS documentary, 10 Days in Watts, that aired the first two episodes this past Sunday, Feb. 12, aims to change the narrative.

The documentary was produced by actor and Emmy® -nominated filmmaker Raphael Sbarge (Once Upon a Time, Murder in the First). Sbarge not only offers a glimpse of what went into finishing MudTown Farms, but he also introduces viewers to the community members working to make the community a better place to live.

The four-part series, centers on Tim Watkins, president of the Watts Labor Community Action Committee, as he and other community members work to finish the park. it’s a place they envision as an open space for community gardens, orchards, and reading areas — and ultimately a tool to enrich the lives of Watts’ residents.

Now, nearly a year later, the park is fully operational. It distributes 17,000 pounds of produce to the community every two weeks from a network of partners in accordance with a $4.9 million dollar grant from California, and hosts classes and volunteer opportunities.

Though much of the produce comes from partners, a lot of it also comes from the farm itself.

Watkins said the farm had planted grapevines and other edible plants along a fenceline so that when the farm is closed people can still walk up to the gate or to the fence and pick fruit.

It’s also become a spot for people in the community to rest and enjoy the outdoors.

“There’s exercising equipment; there are other places where you just sit down and enjoy the peace and the quiet,” Watkins said. “And everybody that visits the farm remarks the same thing: That in the midst of what’s characterized as a violent place, there’s the most remarkable peace — great solace,” he said. “You can seek respite there without being hurried along.”

MudTown farms has plans for future growth, with Watkins saying it has secured funding already to build a culinary arts facility.

“It’s really a state-of-the-art kitchen that will teach people how to plan, grow, gather, and prepare food that can be stored,” he said, adding that the point of the kitchen will be to help the community grow enough food to feed itself.

Watkins said MudTown is also exploring the idea of potentially giving people in the community chickens for the purpose of helping to reduce community waste.

“And at a time when a dozen eggs cost $7 in LA, a family can live off those chickens,” he

As Watkins continues his work at MudTown farms and other community projects on behalf of WLCAC, he said it’s not about filling his father’s shoes.

Agricultural Oasis in Watts

“This has been about extending the work that he’s done,” Watkins said. “And he taught us damn well long before there was a Nike. He told us, ‘if something needs to be done, just do it.’” Watkins noted that some call Mudtown Farms visionary, which kind of gives him credit, but he says he doesn’t need it.

“I look at MudTown Farms as a place with Limitless potential where the possibilities are endless,” Watkins said. “When you look at it that way, what can we do there every week? We have hundreds of volunteers that come because they [believe] there’s a spirituality to the place-a place some would characterize as hyper-violent. But Mudtown Farms is a center of solace.”

Episodes of 10 Days in Watts will premiere as follows:

“A Garden Grows in Watts” - Sun., Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. on KCET and Thurs., Feb. 23 at 9:30 p.m. on PBS SoCal MudTown Farms opens after 12 years and the community comes out to celebrate. A new day begins for Tim Watkins

MAR 2 5 - 9 PM 25TH ANNIVERSARY

and his family, and the torch is passed from father to son. The community provides feedback on the urban garden’s opening, including perspectives from a pastor, an 18-year-old double amputee headed to college, and a crisis intervention specialist.

“Legacy” airs on Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. on PBS SoCal.

“We Are Taught to Survive” airs on Feb. 23 at 8:30 p.m. on PBS SoCal