How to Plot a
Grass-Roots
Rebirth
Can the
concept of
urban farming,
on both large
and small
scales, act as
catalyst for
Detroit's
inner-city
rebirth?
By Brett Callwood
C
ountless plans for the redevelop-
ment of Detroit have been advertised
throughout the last half-century,
most of which have resulted in high-
profile boondoggles like the Detroit
People Mover or oversized and
under-occupied eye-candy attrac-
tions like the Renaissance Center.
The casinos, too, with their glit-
tering lights, full buffets and empty promises
of riches (on more than one level) are possi-
bly more a noisy distraction than the slice of
"little Vegas" some city officials hoped for.
The problem with schemes like these, crit-
ics charge, is they operate in the short term
— the "get rich quick" school of thinking.
City residents are entitled to more from those
in charge, they say.
Fortunately, within the ranks of those
same residents, there are minds at work that
are capable of seeing beyond the end of the
next business year. People like John Hantz.
Hantz is the CEO of his own money man-
aging business, Hantz Financial Services.
Despite a net worth of more than $100
million, he still resides in the city of Detroit,
commuting to his suburban office daily,
and refuses to give up on the city he adores,
though his resolve has been sorely tested over
the past 20 years.
The eternal optimist, Hantz says he would
tell himself on a daily basis that "things will
get better in Detroit" soon. Then one day, he
admits, he simply arrived at the realization
that those long-sought improvements aren't
going to happen — at least, not soon enough
— unless somebody takes action.
Smart enough to know that a casino isn't
going to transform the blocks of vacant lots
and ramshackle structures waiting to be
razed, the entrepreneur began thinking in
terms of beautification.
Tina Bassett is Hantz's communications
manager.
"The future is urban farming," says Bassett.
"If you go to China, the population has made
it a necessity to develop urban farming, just
because of transportation, environmental
costs and what is happening as the popula-
tion grows. In China, there are 50 cities with
half a million people each. People are going
to have to go vertical rather than horizontal
to grow food.
"Urban farming isn't a farm with acres and
acres of corn. Urban farming uses pods that
work around residential areas and shopping
areas. They become part of the fabric of the
city. You can have a pod of wild strawberries,
an orchard of apples somewhere else, hard-
wood trees in another area. It all depends on
what the soil allows, where it's located — it's
a different kind of vision."
Basset went on to explain how the use
of technologies, including hydroponics,
which is the process of growing plants using
nutrients dissolved in water without soil, and
aeroponics, the process of growing plants in
air, becomes important.
NOT A PANACEA
Dan Lijana, communications manager for
Mayor Dave Bing, says the mayor believes
urban fanning has the potential to play a role
in the economic revitalization of Detroit but
questions whether its impact can supplant
long-established sectors considered vital to
the city's future.
"While it is unlikely to rival manufactur-
ing and the healthcare industry in terms of
www.redthreadmagazine.com
economic impact, it is important to attract
new industries," Lijana says.
However, with an estimated 40 square
miles — more than 25,000 acres — of vacant
property, it certainly appears to the casual
observer that the city has the space for ex-
periments like urban farms, on both small
and large scales.
Creating a farm in urban Detroit is, unsur-
prisingly, fraught with obstacles, though not
necessarily those one might expect, and var-
ies depending on the scale of the project. The
notion of a wartime-era Victory Garden, with
rows of tomatoes and root vegetables housed
within a city lot, have been more palatable
to city planners and advocates of the new
urban farming concept versus a large-scale
commercial farm that would re-appropriate
entire city blocks.
'Among the obstacles that we're facing
right now — some of them are legal — is
there are no criteria for commercial urban
agriculture-in the cite Basset explains. "They
don't know how to tax it so we have to have a
new tax code made."
She adds that the other hurdle is clear title
to land. Throughout decades of abandon-
ment, lost or poorly kept records and general
neglect, the city has experienced difficulty in
establishing ownership of land that would be
needed for a large-scale operation.
City representatives continue to have dis-
cussions with both companies and individu-
als interested in converting the land back to
agricultural use. Bing's spokesman says the
city will always engage those interested in pi-
lot projects or other revitalization initiatives.
"There are legislative obstacles that would
require action by the state of Michigan
such as the Right to Farm Act," Lijana says.
"In addition, the city would need to make
significant changes to its zoning laws. We are
optimistic that progress will continue.
Randall Fogelman is the vice president of
Business Operations at Eastern Market Cor-
poration. He believes that the obstacles faced
by urban farming, like land acquisition, zon-
ing and land condition, are fairly standard
and shouldn't discourage entrepreneurs and
activists alike.
"I'm a major proponent of urban farming,"
says Fogelman. "People will come from all over
the world to see our model. We're planning a
2.5 acre market garden at Eastern Market."
BOLDER IN BOULDER
In Boulder, Colo., Jewish communities
have been grabbing the urban fanning bull
by its horns. Community Supported Agri-
culture groups are (pun alert) sprouting up
throughout the area, often selling produce
outside of local synagogues; it's seen as a
social as well as commercial exercise.
CSAs, which are similar to cooperatives,
have its members buy into the organization
for a weekly share of locally grown (usually
organic) harvests; the CSAs also tend to estab-
lish long-term relationships with the farms.
According to Tuv Ha'Aretz, one of four
Jewish CSAs in the Boulder area, the concept
of community-supported agricultural coop-
eratives has attracted 140 members in only
its second year of operation.
In addition to traditional commodities like
grains and produce, the area also boasts the
Jewish Egg Project, which is another coop-
erative where 14 Boulder families collectively
own 30 cage-free hens.
Of course, Boulder has things going for
it that Detroit can aspire to, not the least
of which includes critical masses of well-
educated, socially active and affluent citizens.
However, Detroit has a gritty determination
that lends well to CSA-type, out-of-the-box
concepts taking root here.
TREE HUGGERS?
-
John Hantz, may be the man with the
financial muscle, but there are others in De-
troit finding success through urban farming,
albeit on a smaller scale.
Elsewhere, the Earthworks Urban Farm
is the first and oldest certified organic farm
in Detroit. It has seven gardens, spread over
20 city lots, and describes itself as a "small
but very diverse growing organization."
Earthworks sells its produce at several area
farmers markets and through the Grown In
Detroit co-op and donates some of its har-
vests to area soup kitchens.
It would seem, then, that everybody wins
with urban farming. The food is better, the
city looks prettier and even the soup kitchens
have more food to give out. Yet, there are
naysayers who reject the notion that urban
farming is a viable industry, either in com-
mercial practice or in micro-scales.
Perhaps it's the notion that urban farm-
ing on the micro-level conjures up images
of, well, people from Boulder; adjectives for
these people include "tree-hugger," "crunchy"
and "liberal."
But if those are the worst charges one can
level, why did the Rev. Jesse Jackson refer to
urban farming in Detroit as "cute but foolish"
in an interview with the Detroit News.
"I don't believe that he understands our
vision," says Bassett. "I don't believe that it's
been presented to him correctly. Listen, Jesse
Jackson is a respected civil rights leader and
he's done remarkable things in this coun-
try that have benefited many people. That
doesn't mean he's always right."
Fogelman of the Eastern Market believes
the truth is somewhere between Hantz and
Jackson.
"Do I believe that urban farming is the
solution to the revitalization of Detroit? No,"
says Fogelman. "However, it is one very vi-
able use of all this abundant land."
And the Rev. Jackson, of course, most
likely didn't intend to be dismissive or to
simply snipe. Rather, he seems to be echoing
the concerns of many city residents that the
urban farming concept is little more than a
publicity stunt.
Indeed, it's difficult to take a drive through
Detroit's more fatigued areas, where the home-
less are more plentiful than the hopeful, and
imagine that farms are going to save the city.
"Detroit needs investment in industry,
housing and construction, not bean patches,"
Jackson said. "If people want to farm, they'll
farm in zones."
However, the other side of that coin is that
people like John Hantz are prepared to try
something different. Nothing has worked so
far, as the argument goes, so why not give
this a try? Hantz already has test plots being
tilled for the summer. At the time of this
writing, he also had eyed two locations for
acquisition and hopes to complete purchase
agreements with city officials expeditiously.
Maybe urban farming will save Detroit;
maybe it won't. At worst, it will add some
greenery to a city in desperate need of a
contrast to the gray; at best, it will take root
and grow.
RED mum I April 2011 19