Goodfoodworld: Urban Farming in Detroit

Urban Farming in Detroit

Ken Kailing, February 27th, 2012

Urban Roots is a documentary about farming within the city limits of Detroit, and as such, it’s a handy way to get an education on the subject in something like 90 minutes. Dedicated Detroiters are working tirelessly to fulfill their vision for locally-grown, sustainably farmed food in a city where people – as in much of the county – have found themselves cut off from real food and limited to the lifeless offerings of fast food chains and grocery stores stocked with processed food.
This documentary really struck me as in the now and totally honest; the land with real recoverable soil and water and out of the control of real estate profiteers for a time. Darn good people making a genuine effort. This is the “Urban Agriculture Frontier” and is a sign of things to come as our existing top-heavy infrastructure breaks down. Look across the US; all the big money available isn’t going to fix our roads and bridges.
Unfortunately, even defunct urban real estate is big money in our land-speculator, capitalism-driven economy. What real people can do is more limited now than we’ve ever known it to be; and the far Right is determined to turn everything into a high-end Monopoly Game.
Urban Roots Trailer from Tree Media on Vimeo.
The people in Detroit are building a new life – at least until the next wave of bankers and developers come in to take it from them. Let us hope the new urban farms in Detroit can last!