Meet Deborah Fryman, Co-founder of LACGC

Deborah Fryman has worked in the non-profit world for more than 20 years, focusing on urban restoration through greening and community building. She was one of the founding members of the Los Angeles Community Garden Council in 1998. Deborah sat down with us and shared that, after the LA Riots, USDA and the US Forest Service wanted to support greening and agricultural projects in low-income areas of Los Angeles. This funding enabled a group of non-profit partners, including people from LA Conservation Corps, UC Cooperative Extension, and LA Harvest (where Deborah worked at the time) to get together to start community gardens in low-income neighborhoods. Through this collaboration, the Los Angeles Community Garden Council (LACGC) was born.

Deborah is proud to have been such a key player in the founding of LACGC. She described how LACGC grew to incorporate the work of LA Grows, overseen by Rachel Surls of the UCCE Master Gardener program, and how LACGC became the primary resource for people looking to start new community gardens. LACGC does not just teach gardening; it helps to empower gardeners by offering techniques to organize, run meetings, fundraise, and sustain their gardens.  Deborah sees leadership development as an essential part of LACGC’s work. She also recognizes that LACGC has built a forum to connect community gardens, as she says,

“You have the Crenshaw Community Garden connecting with the Boyle Heights Community Garden and they realize they are part of a bigger movement.”

Deborah is confident that this movement will continue to grow over the next 20 years and LACGC will help more communities to have green space where they can grow their own healthy food.

By Diana Campos-Jimenez