Support the LAPL Palisades Branch Recovery Fund
Click Here
Subscribe
The Library Store
Donate Now
ALOUD

To Live and Eat in L.A.:
Food Justice in the Age of the Foodie

In conversation with author Josh Kun, author and professor,
USC Annenberg School for Communication
Date: Tuesday, Jul 14, 2015
Time: 7:15pm
Location: Mark Taper Auditorium-Central Library
RonFinley_NewCMSTEST
Back to Calendar

The L.A. food scene is as trendy, tweeted, pop-upped, and profit-busting as it’s ever been, and yet more people are going hungry at a greater rate than perhaps any other moment in the city’s history. As the USDA has declared, Los Angeles is the nation’s “epicenter of hunger,” where the phrase “food insecurity”—lacking reliable access to nutritious and safe food—has become as much a part of the local vernacular for activists and organizers as sunshine and traffic. In a special collaboration with the Library Foundation to rediscover the Los Angeles Public Library’s vast archive, USC professor Josh Kun uses the Library’s menu collection to explore the shaping of Los Angeles. With vintage menus as our guides, join Kun for a conversation about the struggles and triumphs of contemporary food activism with urban gardener Ron Finley, the Healthy School Food Coalition’s Elizabeth Medrano and Community Services Unlimited Inc.’s Neelam Sharma.

Frequently asked questions

Back to Calendar
A book signing follows most author programs. We encourage you to purchase your book through the Library Store, as the proceeds benefit the Los Angeles Public Library. Library Associates receive 15% off purchases made through the Library Store. Book purchases will be available for pick-up the night of the event.

Ron Finley

Most widely known as the “Gangsta Gardener,” Ron Finley inadvertently started a horti-cultural revolution when he transformed the barren parkway in front of his South Central L.A. home into an edible oasis. Ron travels the world speaking to people about the importance of growing their own food and reminding them, that they have the power to design their own lives. By turning food prisons into food forests, the Ron Finley Project is transforming culture one garden at a time. View his TED talk here.

Elizabeth Medrano

Elizabeth Medrano has a long track record of involvement in social and environmental justice work beginning in the mid-1990s. In her role as the Coordinator and Organizer for the Healthy School Food Coalition, a program of the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College, she focuses on organizing and training school populations on advocacy directed at full implementation of school food and nutrition motions adopted by the Los Angeles Board of Education. In 2012, Medrano authored the School Food Policy & Organizing Toolkit, and most recently, along with California Food Policy Advocates, she co-authored the School Food, Lessons Learned Report, which was released in 2014.

Neelam Sharma

Neelam Sharma is the executive director of Community Services Unlimited, an organization she became acquainted with through her work with the Black Panther organization she founded in Britain in the mid-1980s. Upon relocating to the United States in 1997, her food justice work with CSU was birthed by her specific need to feed her family healthy food when she moved to South LA, and was driven by her broader understanding of the basic human right to high quality, culturally appropriate food as a critical element of social justice. She first became a community activist as a pre-teen in response to an attempt by fascists to organize in Southall, London, where she grew up. In addition to being an activist, Neelam loves dancing, reading and storytelling and is excited about what the future has in store.

Main image: Photo of urban farmer Ron Finley in his garden.

630 W. Fifth St.
Los Angeles, CA 90071

213.228.7500

info@lfla.org

Subscribe to our newsletter

Name(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
About Us
Programs
Calendar
Support Us
Library Store
Los Angeles Public Library
Contact Us
Financials
Core Values and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Reservation Policy
Donors Privacy
Privacy Policy

© 2025 Library Foundation of Los Angeles

Subscribe

Library Store

Donate Now
Stacy-Lieberman_headshot_President-and-CEO_LFLA

Stacy Lieberman

As President and CEO of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles (LFLA), Stacy Lieberman is an innovative and inclusive leader whose career dwells at the intersection of arts and culture, lifelong learning, storytelling, and equitable access. Stacy guides the Foundation’s philanthropic and public-facing priorities to serve the Los Angeles Public Library, embracing the notion that libraries are beacons of democracy where everyone is welcome. She works intentionally with community leaders, donors, and internal and external strategic partners to raise awareness and resources for the Library and its life-changing initiatives.

With more than 20 years of experience as a senior executive, Stacy has left an indelible mark on iconic L.A. arts, non-profit, and educational institutions such as The Broad, the Autry Museum of the American West, and the Skirball Cultural Center. Building on an early career in book publishing, she has dedicated her professional life to sharing stories and broadening the reach of public institutions to welcome visitors and students of all ages and backgrounds to experience educational, arts, and cultural opportunities.