Educational Media Reviews Online

The filmmakers have beautifully and succinctly captured the seasons from this longstanding LatinX community garden, the passions of the farmers, the neighborhood’s protests, and the government officials involved in negotiations. Yet, it is hard to watch this documentary and not feel disheartened. One hopes viewers will learn some methods used in this documentary to push back on future gentrification projects. If viewers have seen South Central Farm: Oasis in a Concrete Desert or Save the Farm: The Largest Urban Farm in the U.S., which are both set in L.A. more than a decade ago, you will find the similarities are striking.

No Place to Grow is relevant for classroom use and DVDs come with discussion questions in a study guide. The film is bilingual and includes easy to read captions. This documentary is recommended for libraries collecting broadly on community gardens and urban agriculture. If needed, you can substitute an older, but still relevant documentary, already available in your collections such as Urban Roots, Growing Hope: The Homeless Garden Project, Battle for Brooklyn, or one of the South Central Farm films listed above.

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