Turning Motown into Growtown

Detroit is in the unique situation of having too much land. In the 1950s Detroit's population soared to 1.8 million people. Now the city is faced with a population decrease to about 900,000 residents. The question on everyone's mind is what to do with the vacant lots. One popular idea and movement is to turn the empty spaces into urban gardens.

Urban Farming was founded by Detroit singer and former Prince protégé Taja Sevelle. The organization is dedicated to turning vacant land over to food production, providing a healthier diet to city people who either go hungry or have poor nutrition.

I had the pleasure of working with Urban Farming to plant a garden in a vacant lot on Knodell Street near the Linwood neighborhood. Volunteers work to plant the garden and the nearest fire department waters the garden if rain water is not enough. Residents are allowed to help themselves to whatever they need. Detroit has no major supermarkets and few stores that carry fresh produce so a garden movement like Urban Farming can be essential to the community.

To learn more about Urban Farming read this Guardian article entitled "Detroit gets growing" or this Guernica article entitled "Food Among the Ruins."