USC Dornsife reported that a staggering 1 in 4 Los Angeles County households, approximately 832,000, face food insecurity, defined as a lack of access to nutritious foods. In the last five months, this rate has surged to 44%, surpassing pandemic peaks and disproportionately impacting low-income and minority communities, highlighting systemic issues of discrimination, racism, and classism.    

For thousands of low-income households and predominantly minority neighborhoods in Los Angeles County, particularly South LA, the issue transcends food insecurity. Jamiah Hargins, founder of Crop Swap LA, considers this crisis a "food apartheid." This concept, first articulated by Bronx activist Karen Washington, describes the deliberate denial of healthy food access to minority communities driven by underlying racial, historical, and political factors.

Hargins experienced this firsthand when he and his family moved to West Adams in 2015. Despite having a high-paying job, he was also impacted by the scarcity of healthy food options. The cost and nutritional quality of available food were beyond his control, becoming his primary concern for his growing family. He attributes this food apartheid to the abandonment of the community by grocery stores and pharmacies.

"In the Crenshaw, Leimert Par,k and View Park areas, food apartheid looks like grocery stores and pharmacies shutting down and moving out due to their own internal financial gains," says Hargins. "Grocery stores' missions are not to serve the community, but they're to create a profit for their shareholders."

The rise of fast food establishments and the decline of local grocery stores with fresh produce left Hargins feeling as though his community was left to fend for itself. Witnessing elderly neighbors walk miles for groceries and struggle with bags on public transit ignited a powerful sense of urgency within him to act.

"It's really just a very inefficient system where people have been neglected and left out of the loop," Hargins expresses. "So I figure it'd be better if we had small micro-farm systems that over one mile can serve a few hundred people."   

Fueled by the need to provide a clean, safe, and healthy lifestyle for his family and himself, Hargins launched Crop Swap LA. This sustainable, urban-farming nonprofit transforms unused spaces—front yards, schools, churches—into thriving organic fruit and vegetable gardens. Crop Swap LA directly distributes their harvest of beets, onions, lettuces, etc., to those who live within one mile of their multiple micro farm locations through an equitable paying membership. The idea first manifested after the birth of his daughter and has now blossomed from a backyard initiative into a powerful movement. Hargins' home garden in his backyard, "The Degnan Microfarm," now stands proudly as the organization's headquarters and continues to feed his neighbors.

"I couldn't ever handle giving [my daughter] terrible, fast food out of necessity one day or seeing the beauty in her skin and her eyes deplete over time, so I hustled to my backyard and built a little garden," recalls Hargins. "We eventually started swapping the extra crops out of our backyards and fruit from trees; that started the crop swapping and briefly a farmer's market." 

His initial path was unclear, but Hargins connected with mentors who eagerly wanted to amplify his vision for a healthier community. Their innovative, sustainable system harvests rainwater and solar power, then recycles the rainwater to cultivate organic crops. Seven years later, Crop Swap LA nourishes 80 families across ten micro-farm sites and confronts the food apartheid faced by hundreds of minority households in South LA. 

Among the diverse harvests in his micro-farms, Hargins' favorite is the comfrey plant, a treasure rooted in African and South American traditions. The comfrey plant is a natural healer; its leaves can mend broken ligaments and tissue by simply placing its magical leaves on the area. Scientific studies prove this theory and highlight comfrey's potential to alleviate muscle and joint pain. Hargins, full of botanical secrets, shares the secret healing powers of an avocado pit. If you steep it in rubbing alcohol for one day, it transforms into a potent topical pain reliever and instantly reduces pain before the application is complete. These natural remedies, nurtured within Crop Swap LA, speak to their profound understanding of the earth's gifts and the power of accessible, traditional healing.

"It's just remarkable what plants can do," Hargins says. "I just met someone yesterday who took my advice on that with his knee pain, and he said the pain went away, and it hasn't come back since then."

Crop Swap LA's dedication to healing extends to its core values of accessibility and inclusivity. The nonprofit not only welcomes EBT but also reserves membership for a broad spectrum of underserved individuals, including single parents, those with multiple children, veterans, immigrants, seniors and their caretakers, foster children, and many others facing circumstances beyond their control. Hargins' nonprofit organization thoughtfully integrates senior centers, schools, and churches into its distribution network, ensuring that the seeds of health and wellness take deep root throughout the neighborhood. 

"Nowadays a lot of our foods has toxins in it…so, when you think about caring for your children or caring for our elders and caring for our bodies, so we don't have to get cancer unnecessarily, we have options now," says Hargins. "My option is to opt out of the grocery system and opt into a community system." 

Hargins can easily recall the countless stories of community members sharing how Crop Swap LA has changed their lives. These heartfelt stories testify to the organization's powerful impact throughout South Los Angeles. This initiative opened the community's eyes to what the future can look like when they are empowered to reclaim their health, cultivate their own nourishment, and stand in solidarity against a system that dictates their healthy food access. Hargins is immensely proud that Crop Swap LA has developed a unique economic growth and job creation ecosystem. With a dedicated team of 16, Hargins anticipates a positive ripple effect throughout South LA.

Crop Swap LA values community connectivity and offers a wide range of programs that invite the community into their process. Hargins and his team host monthly workshops and school tours to teach others how to grow their produce through stored water. Crop Swap LA's reach extends far beyond Los Angeles County through their "Crop Swap Your City" program, where Hargins developed a cohort of leaders seeking to adopt his model in their communities. He provides insightful consultation on how they can grow their operations from the ground up to be consistent, sustainable, and profitable. 

Crop Swap LA understands that actual change is rooted in a thriving, unified community. Their commitment to this is evident in their engaging programs, inviting everyone to become part of the solution. Through monthly workshops and educational private tours, Hargins and his team empower the community to learn the process of growing food sustainably. Their local impact is amplified through the "Crop Swap Your City" program, where Hargins mentors a growing network of leaders, equipping them to establish their own thriving, sustainable operations. 

Be a part of the healthy living movement! Support Crop Swap LA's work in Los Angeles County through donations or volunteering, or explore the "Crop Swap Your City" program to learn how you can spark growth in your neighborhood.