![Value [the] Meal](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_M6LVrPIMLQg/Sa7f8YRHG-I/AAAAAAAAABM/5NA1LbY-4ys/S1600-R/VtMheader3.jpg)
Take the vacant land in the middle of Detroit and turn it into the world’s largest urban farm. Sounds like an idyllic fix: acres of green grass, hay bales, pumpkins in October and furry evergreens for Christmas.
The two shepherds of this redevelopment are John Hantz, financial services millionaire, and Matt Allen, an advocate for Hantz’s vision. Their plan is to create Hantz Farms, a massive for-profit farm in the heart of downtown Detroit. "Hantz Farms will transform this area, increase the tax base, create jobs," says Hantz.
The proposal is to build a 20,000 acre farm (about 26 square miles) in one of the most profound food deserts in our nation. In a city without a single supermarket, the thought of buying asparagus instead of mini-mart junk food sounds awfully alluring. Hantz Farms wants to harvest wind energy, utilize geothermal heat and biomass fuel from recycling compost.
Too green to be true? Probably. Skeptics say Hantz Farms motives are non-local, agri-business driven and disempowering of Detroit’s black community.
The idea that a businessman wants to invest in city land for the purpose of farming seems venerable. However, the idea that they would be taking the land away from the people is disconcerting and I’d rather see all 26 acres used as a community-owned garden, like the Grown in Detroit project, that teaches local kids and parents about organics and healthy food alternatives.
In a phone call to Hantz Farms’ PR firm, I was told (get this!) that the ultimate hope is to sell the farm’s produce across the Eastern seaboard. I also asked whether the project would have a farm stand that would accept food stamps (see how Philadelphia does it). Their response—they’d have a farm stand but weren’t sure whether or not they would accept food stamps.
Detroit is missing a unique opportunity to create a large public space, community garden and healthy alternatives. It would be a terrible shame to deny access to these local, healthy foods to the very neighbors of this farm. In the wake of the auto industry collapse, shouldn’t Detroit think twice before sowing its seed to a private company?
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellievanhoutte/1012000289/
Posts
Yes we should think twice. And getting legal help to ensure that this city would definitely benefit from the farm is essential. Having community only owned farms is a powerful and inspirational thought. However, as a Detroiter who is part of a "farming" community, I see how this ideal is unrealistic. Farming food for production is a full time job and almost everyone living in this city has to work to make a living and support their family. They have no extra money to hire the workers necessary to plant and tend to acres upon acres of crops.
ReplyDeleteAnd to the point of protecting Detroit's black community, there can no longer be a community identified by skin color. This city is collapsing around us at an extremely high rate. Schools are closing, not to mention the school system we do have is failing our kids. I see newly burned houses EVERY SINGLE DAY. Detroit has a few gems that can not support the city alone. We need financial support or a way to bring in finances, and we need it NOW. Again I stress the legal action needed to protect the small urban farms that do exist, and to ensure no genetically modified foods or toxic pesticides. We can have a say in this decision and make it work in our favor, but to write it off without a second thought is completely unintelligent and self defeating.
ReplyDeletehi friends! amazing blog!
ReplyDelete