Today we’d like to introduce you to Darin Diggs.
Darin, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was once 235lbs with an extensive checklist of diseases like overweight, foggy-minded, unhealthy skin, unmotivated with kidney stones, upset stomach, headaches, and body aches. In 2018 after graduating high school, I decided to head Alaska. This is where I started studying the African Human Genome and indigenous diets and how important it is to return to our roots. In 2019, I moved back to California to study At a Permaculture Academy held at USC. Where I was able to learn how the ancient culture Utilized the land to work for them unlike modern-day processes. I was also working at Sprouts Farmers Market as a vitamin clerk, studying the benefits of different herbs. With the combination of studies and the lack of quality food availability, I created Imani Gardens to bring life into your home and boost the longevity of mankind. We believe in a world where healthy living is the standard in every home. Not just the fortunate few…
And with our intuitive products and services, we’ve made this a reality. We set up every Sunday in Leimert Park and are working to establish a mobile grocery store and a physical location within the next year! This past year we have distributed over 50,000lb of watermelons this past summer. We have connected with over ten black, indigenous farmers from San Diego to Sacramento. Distributing their produce back to the black and brown community in Los Angeles.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has been very bumpy. Within our first two years, I experienced my truck losing a wheel while I was driving from delivery to delivery. While the truck was down, I separated my shoulder while riding a bike, which inhibited me from lifting up boxes or cutting coconuts. Once those adversities were fixed, and we began selling fruit again this past year, we were expanding rapidly during the summer, selling enough watermelons to buy a big 20ft box truck. We were excited about the new addition to the business, we wanted to give back to the community, and we led a Feed the Hood event where we served 200+ fruit cups 150 fresh juices to the homeless community in Skid Row. After that event. We had our Catalytic converter stolen from the truck, which cost us several thousands of dollars. Soon after that the same truck experienced a tire blowout when we were bringing back 9,000lbs of Organic seeded watermelons from Sacramento. We were on the side of the road for 4 hours. It’s safe to say we persevered, and we are here to stay.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Imani Gardens?
We are more than a Produce store, Farmers, and Distributors. We Are the foundation of a community. Imani (faith) Gardens (a system of plants (individuals) coming together to create a Company that heals the community through physical, spiritual, and mental wellness). Within our logo, you can find An Imani Ankh connecting to the Four Directions Symbol through a tree that only bares fruits in the up half of the four directs (tree), which represents that we bring high knowledge of wisdom through ancient teachings of indigenous Americans and Africans We Pride ourselves in bringing life into your homes Through Seeded fruits, Exotic Fruits, Original Foods all at peak Freshness. We Utilize our extra funds to feed the less fortunate individuals. We also Take the time to teach at several schools a food forest program, where we teach children micro-Organisms all the way to the layers of a forest and how to recreate it in urban settings. We are also a part of small hiking groups where we teach how to forage the native plants in California.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What Matters Most to me is that the community that I have been working on establishing knows that we can build an economy with working together. That everyone has a role to play in creating an environment that our children can be raised in. Peace, Love, and Positivity.
Contact Info:
- Website: Imanigardens.com
- Instagram: Imani_Gardens
Image Credits
Imani Diggs from Imani Gardens
