LASA is honored to have picked 779 pounds of oranges from The Huntington grove for the Hollywood Food Coalition this month.

We gathered to get ready to pick and heard from Patrick Hudnut, a LASA alum who works at the Hollywood Food Coalition. He shared about their meal service and the importance of fresh food. We then walked over to the grove and met with Huntington Head Gardener of the Ranch and Kitchen Garden Carola Di Poi. Carola helped us understand the picking process and rules and cheered us on. Spreading out across the grove, LASA students and teachers caught up on the week, shared stories about upcoming spring break trips, and taste-tested some of the oranges. Remick reflects: “Originally, I knew that Pasadena was once all orchards, but I didn’t know that they were still around and that the Huntington’s orchards were part of the original orchards of Pasadena. Through picking oranges, although it may seem like a straightforward task, I had to think about the different oranges and whether they were appropriate to be picked or not. I also found it very interesting learning from and talking to my LASA classmates, whom I hadn’t interacted with before, in the orchard and walking around the gardens. By far the best part of the meeting was trying the oranges, and although the one I tried wasn’t extremely sweet, it had an interesting, slightly sour but very fresh taste.”

After loading all of the oranges into Hollywood Food Coalition helper Marcus Shelton’s car, LASA explored The Huntington, looking for the oldest treasures, items they thought might look good in their living spaces, and things made in LA. We enjoyed hearing about 15th century statutes, tapestries, plant life, and even items from the gift shop. Julia adds, “Even though I have been to the Gardens (in order to walk around with family/outside of LASA) a few times, I had never really looked at all of the things the Gardens had to offer, like going into the art museum. I especially liked the exhibit with the Blue Boy painting and the newer painting inspired by the Blue Boy on opposite walls, since it felt like it really showed the way that inspirations can take on new meaning. It was also interesting to learn about the history of the Huntington, and how it became how it is. I definitely want to go back in the Gardens more often, and look at parts that I hadn’t seen before.”

LASA then welcomed Senior Vice President for Advancement and External Relations Randy Shulman. Randy shared about his work in non-profit fundraising as well as his deep love and history of The Huntington, dating from the time he was younger than our LASA students. Randy has been a friend of LASA since its founding and it was an honor to have him return.

Hazel and Max sum up the day:

Hazel: “Getting the opportunity to pick oranges in the Huntington Orange Grove, and further getting to explore the Huntington Gardens was such a cool experience. Before this LASA session, I had no idea that there even was an orange grove there nor that there were any real gardens at all. I just thought there were a bunch of exhibits and museums to walk through. Picking oranges was a very fun and interactive way to be introduced to what more the Gardens have to offer, and getting to hear from one of the vice presidents of the Huntington about what he does and what really goes into keeping it maintained and updated was very interesting. Going on the scavenger hunt and seeing things I’d seen before and hadn’t was very fun as well. Along with the fact that I didn’t understand that it was a real garden, I had no idea the influence it had on the local communities. It was easy at the food bank to visualize the food being given to less fortunate families in the area, but knowing there were other organizations doing the same thing and making such great impacts on people’s lives was super cool. My mother always lectures me about how important eating fresh fruit is, but now it really occurs to me how some people don’t have the luxury to eat it and they rely on places like the Huntington or the Hollywood Food Coalition to obtain it. Now I know not to take for granted all of the fresh food I am fortunate enough to eat every day.”

Max: “At our recent LASA event, we got to pick oranges at the private Huntington Grove. We also learned about the cause our harvest would be supporting, the Hollywood Food Coalition, giving the experience a really meaningful purpose beyond just the picking itself. After talking with some of the Huntington Grove managers, I also found out that the oranges we were picking had started ripening about a month earlier than usual. They told us this was mainly because of a recent heat wave caused by climate change, demonstrating that climate change is not just something we hear about in the news but something that is actually affecting our local community in real ways. After we finished picking oranges, we also got to check out some really cool historic artifacts around the Huntington, including an old wooden statue…from 1440. It just goes to show that a single LASA event can give you so much more than you expect, from learning about food insecurity to seeing centuries old art and history all in one day.”

Thank you to Jaeda Snow, Randy Shulman, Carola Di Poi, Patrick Hudnut, and Marcus Shelton for making the day happen.