Gentrification

Gentrification has affected me and my family and I really do think gentrification is a problem for communities where the economic class gap is extremely large like in Brooklyn. You can live in a million dollar home in Manhattan Beach, or pay a few hundred dollars for rent in a subsidized apartment in East New York. I live in one of these apartments in Spring Creek. This isn't a wealthy neighborhood by any means; intact, it's government subsidized. Spring Creek is the largest federal subsidized housing complex in the country and in 2006, it was up for sale. Over the course of 4 months, community activists protested the sale of the property to a private real estate enterprise who would indefinitely raise the rent for all of its 5,881 apartment units. These were all low-middle class families who struggled to get by, and where would they go if their rent was raised? That question was never asked by the prospective owners. Fortunately for all 14,620 residents (myself included), the property was sold under the premise that housing and rent would remain affordable and all of those living there, would remain to live there.

Some families aren't as fortunate, such as Taigi Smith's. I could only imagine the struggle and the obstacles that were placed under the displaced tenants who once lived in Mission. I do recognize the socio-economic structure western society is based on. I do know that "money talks" and that those who are more fortunate have their voices heard louder than those like my neighbors and I. In spite of that, I do not understand the justification for raising rent and evicting tenants that cannot afford to pay. There should be protection and urban development laws that landlords and tenants have to adhere to.

"The more things change, the more things stay the same."

Pha Lo's "When eating organic was totally uncool" is a prime example of Jean Baptiste's quote, "The more things change, the more things stay the same".

What I found most interesting was the history of organic food in the states. My family has been buying organic food for years because of its health benefits. My mother pays premium prices for organic products such as milk, cheese, produce, poultry, and other food staples. My father even plants seasonal herbs and fruit bearing trees for the satisfaction of reaping what you sow and the benefits of eating food that hasn't been sprayed with pesticides and injected with growth hormones. My family shares the same sentiments as Pha Lo's family. Pha Lo's story gave me insight into the history of organic food and its transition from an old world tradition to $25 billion business it is today. To think that in his time, traditionally grown food was food for those less fortunate than others and today its food that only a small portion of people can afford to purchase is extremely telling of how, "the more things change, the more things stay the same".