Freedom Farms Collective grows Alabama Blue collards on Los Angeles farms and supplies local restaurants and markets. Founder Eddie Anderson says he invested $1 million from state grants in urban farms and gardens, supplying seeds, equipment and extra people to help grow crops.
Anderson launched the collective about eight months ago to improve access to fresh food in South and West L.A. and create economic opportunities. Its Project Jubilee program combines urban farming and career development for ages 18 to 25; participants grow seeds into plant plugs for partner farmers. The initiative draws on Fannie Lou Hamer’s 1969 Freedom Farm Cooperative in Mississippi, which sought to expand land access and economic empowerment for Black farmers.
Anderson calls the approach “closed loop”: Freedom Farms participates throughout production to create jobs and keep money circulating locally. Produce is stored at AMP Kitchen, a shared warehouse in Lincoln Heights, then delivered across L.A. County. The collective says partner farms must follow its approved food-safety plans; it uses the term “Farm Fresh” for farms using organic-style practices without certification, which its distribution manager said is costly.
