Rishi Kumar

Sarvodaya Institute – Los Angeles, CA, USA

Rishi Kumar is a small-scale farmer, land-artist, writer, and educator. Since 2010, he has been working in the field of urban gardening and farming in Los Angeles (Sarvodaya Farms), where he has helped create and establish hundreds of urban gardens. His work centers on the healing of people and Earth as one body. 

Sarvodaya Institute works towards the upliftment of all, recognizing that we are all part of one great life and that our individual healing is our collective healing. Their work starts in the garden, a place where we can recognize ourselves in the soil, plants, insects, animals, and each other and recognize all of this Earth (including all people) as one garden, requiring care and love.

Sarvodaya Institute grew out of The Growing Home, a demonstration garden established in 2011 to show how the (sub)urban world can transition away from isolation and consumption and towards creativity, community, and connection. Since then, their scope and impact has expanded dramatically, recognizing the depths of trauma caused by centuries of domination, slavery and genocide in the US and across the globe. 

They now work to support people in remembering their role as caregivers and lovers of our collective EarthBody, through the practice of gardening and farming. We see this as crucial work in reclaiming our agency, dismantling colonial culture and building a culture based on healing and regeneration.

We recognize colonial aggression against communities of color as the underlying cause of damage and destruction to our body, and are committed to the disassembly and decomposition of colonial power structures through all of our work.  We primarily work to benefit and uplift Communities of Color as the sovereigns of the future, especially in our local Tongva/Pomona region.

Location:  Occupied Tongva land (the San Gabriel Valley) of Los Angeles, CA

Organization: Sarvodaya Institute 

Website: https://sarvodayainstitute.org/

Video 1: Regenerative gardening 
Video 2: Full Frame: Planting Tomorrow featuring Sarvodaya Farms