Promoting Equity and Health: Zoning and Detroit Urban Farms

Defined as an urban area in which it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food, food deserts are a modern phenomenon of our industrialized and ever urbanizing world. Affecting many urban centers within the United States, the city of Detroit is no exception to the norm. The majority of the food we consume in the US travels hundreds, if not thousands of miles to its final destination _[1]. There is however, light at the end of the agronomic tunnel. Following the rapidly expanding trend of eating local, and farm to table sustainable living, in 2012 the City of Detroit legalized urban farming. This not only alleviates some of the economic impacts associated with eating fresh produce, but also has served to bolster and beautify Detroit’s communities.

The 2012 amendment to varying sections of the Detroit Zoning Ordinance established the legal basis for today’s urban agricultural movement _[2]. This action by the City Council enabled agriculture within the confines of the city of Detroit by specifying the permissibility of urban agricultural land use on a right to operate, or a conditional use basis, enabling a more expansive use of “hoop houses” and other nursery settings, and even grandfathering in some prior nonconforming land uses as conforming _[3]. These alterations to the legal framework in Detroit surrounding urban farming have served to make urban farming available to all. Prior non-authorized uses of land for urban farming, which included almost all non-nursery operations or private gardens, became accessible within city confines. Further, individuals are now able to apply to have their particular brand of urban farming authorized by the city for a particular use. Although city ordinance and zoning laws can be complex, non-intuitive bodies of law, the groundwork laid by the City Council has enabled an explosion of urban farming initiatives in Detroit.

Urban agriculture in Detroit has skyrocketed in confluence with the city’s rebound post housing crisis. In 2017, there were approximately 3,000 urban farms and gardens of varying sizes, producing around 5% of all produce consumed within the city; a number that has only risen _[4]. From D-Town Farm, to Earth Works Urban Farm, to the Keep Growing Detroit collective, urban food production in Detroit is in the finest of hands. In pursuit of a healthier city and populace, the urban farms of Detroit provide two things often missing from densely populated urban areas: affordable local food, and green spaces. D-Town farm produces some 30 different crops which are sold at the local farm stands, at Detroit’s myriad community farmers markets, and to local restaurants. Beyond the obvious health benefits associated with eating clean, local produce, the urban farming movement in Detroit has provided green spaces sorely missed in an environment of concrete and steel. An added benefit to growing fruits and vegetables is the splash of color they provide. Urban farms are able to serve as community centers, places where both the long-time city residents and the newest ones can come together and appreciate their neighborhood and the city of Detroit as a whole. Further, the creation of new urban farms has helped to alleviate some of the blight Detroit has fought hard to reduce. Creating farms on unkept land helps to further renew spaces that used to be occupied by buildings long in disrepair.

All of these factors may come together to create a modern sub-phenomenon of the urban farming movement: agricultural neighborhoods. These neighborhoods focus on community improvement through the availability of local produce and greenspace to the community surrounding it. The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative, located in the North End, near to the recently re-gentrified Midtown area, exists in rarified air. Most agricultural neighborhoods across the US operate in new developments, with home prices ranging from approximately 300,000-700,000. The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative however, utilized blighted city property as its base for farming operations, in a community in which the average home price was closer to $25,000 _[5]. Although not without its share of controversy, all produce produced at the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative is free, with harvests occurring Saturday mornings. As a non-profit with a focus on food insecurity, the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative operates in a space which pushes a free, healthy, local produce for all mission.

A conversation surrounding the success of urban farms within the city of Detroit cannot be had without a discussion of sovereignty. A hotly debated issue in and around the rejuvenation of all cities across America, and especially so in Detroit, the right to self-determination for local community residents is central and crucial to the urban farming movement. The Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, which operates D-Town Farms, functions not only to alleviate issues of quality food scarcity but furthermore desires to put the majority Black citizenry of Detroit at the center of those choices _[6]. Detroit Black Community Food Security Network works to build self-reliance and justice in Detroit’s black community by influencing public policy, engaging in urban agriculture, promoting healthy eating, encouraging collective buying, and directing Detroit’s youth toward careers in food-related fields.

Although the intentions of the Detroit City Council, in enabling urban farming in 2012, were clear, they could not have imagined the success and impact this legislation would have. Urban farming promotes equity and health in the communities of Detroit. Through the simple act of planting food, the people of Detroit are sowing the seeds for a better, healthier future.

By: Alex Andrzejewski