The Skype lecture in class about resilience and urban
agriculture was of really great interest to me.
It got me thinking about all the unused and vacant lots found in many
big cities today, and how farming and community gardens could really help to
clean up those areas. The city that
really stuck out for me was Detroit.
Detroit emerged as a booming metropolitan area in the 1950’s
and continued to grow with a population of over 1.8 million at its peak. Between 2000 and 2010 the cities population
continued to drop. In 2010 the city had
a population of 713,177, which is a 60% drop in 50 years. With the failing economy and outsourcing of
most jobs Detroit’s economic strength is in constant decline. Most of the population has now moved out of
the downtown area into suburbs or other states, and whole neighborhoods have
become vacant blocks. With all the land
now being unused many of the community members and even outside organizations
are looking to Detroit for urban agriculture.
One company has even ventured to Detroit in search of helping the
community and even making a business out of it.
While I hope they will not take advantage of the people of the city this
company seems to have good intentions while still being profitable.
Seen in the video, Hantz Farms has purchased land from the
city of Detroit to turn into a farm.
Just the cleaning of the land alone has helped improve the
neighborhood. The residences of this
area seem to be on board with the idea of turning these vacant lots into
something they can take pride in and to clean up the area in which they call
home. I hope that in the future city
lawmakers, citizens, and land owners can rally together to make urban
agriculture a sustainable way of life for the cities of America and across the world!
Madison Hergenrader
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ReplyDeleteI loved this class discussion and thought it was so cool to see the steps that cities are taking to implement urban agriculture. I think this lifestyle/trend is just beginning and we will be seeing much more of it in the near future. Urban agriculture provides healthy, inexpensive foods as well as bringing the community and families together. There are so many pros to this!
ReplyDeleteI agree! I loved this lecture and I also have hope that this trend will catch on all over the country. During the Big Event this weekend I had the chance to experience and learn about a community garden right here in lincoln. People are starting to make a change evrywhere!
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