Hollywood stars fight to save urban farm in Los Angeles

The stereotype of the ecological protester, sitting up a tree and refusing to budge, has stringy hair, poor personal hygiene and colorful, ancient clothing. But in Los Angeles they might just be a glamorous movie star.

Actress Daryl Hannah, who starred in Kill Bill, Splash and Blade Runner, was firmly perched up a walnut tree last week in a bid to save a threatened urban farm in a deprived area of Los Angeles -- and she was not the only Hollywood name backing the cause.

The list of celebrities manning the barricades has looked more like the invite list for the Oscars than a demonstration. Alicia Silverstone has popped by. So have Danny Glover and Martin Sheen.

The South Central Farm is an oasis of rural life in the middle of one of the most deprived urban areas in the US. The 5.6 hectare farm is used by about 350 farmers, most of them Hispanic. It is a patchwork of tiny fields planted with fava beans, flowers, cacti and other crops. It also supports several hundred trees. Supporters say the farm helps reduce the city's smog and reflects the traditional lifestyle of the ancestors of the city's Hispanic citizens.

The farm was born in the early 1990s, after Los Angeles had witnessed severe rioting, when the city council leased the land to a local food bank, which allowed the farmers to move in and grow their crops. But now the place is under threat from a developer who wants to build a warehouse on the site.

This prompted an increasingly high-profile campaign to save the farm. A crowd of tents has sprung up, in which movie stars and local politicians mingle with eco-warriors. Hannah has now been up a tree for most of the last 20 days, sharing the spot with environmental activist Julia "Butterfly" Hill, who has been on a hunger strike, drinking only water.

Press conferences have been held at the farm, candle-lit vigils have attracted attention and even Joan Baez has moved among the demonstrators strumming her guitar and singing protest songs.

The future of the farm hangs in the balance. Last week a charity foundation announced that it had pledged an unspecified sum of money to help buy the farm outright. However, the deal has not yet been accepted by the developer who owns the land.

"Don't give up hope. No one can predict how this will end," Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Larry Frank told the protesters last week. The mayor's office has now offered to help in searching for a settlement that will save the farm.