Urban farming takes root at MGM Grand – $1 million project

Jeff Jackson of the MGM Grand, left, walks with Rebecca Salminen Witt of The Greening of Detroit and Michigan State Rep. Bert Johnson. Photo by Max Ortiz, The Detroit News.

$1 million project – Partnership with nonprofit to educate area school kids

Tim Devaney
The Detroit News
July 31, 2010

Excerpt:

Detroit — MGM Grand Detroit casino and The Greening of Detroit said Friday that they plan a $1 million project to build and complete the downtown area’s first urban farm by late next year.

The Grand Garden — announced with the city’s skyscrapers as a backdrop — is crucial for the city’s development of a community-driven food system, organizers said.

Detroit is one of a growing number of metropolitan areas that is reintroducing agriculture. Detroit’s neighborhoods are already filled with more than 1,200 urban farms and gardens, Grand Garden organizers said.

“It’s important to actually see where food comes from and appreciate it,” MGM spokesman Jeff Jackson said. “The garden provides an opportunity to get your hands dirty and understand that everything doesn’t come out of the grocery store.”

The garden will grow fresh fruits and vegetables — such as carrots, garlic, mustard, spinach and tomatoes — to supply the casino’s restaurants, to sell to other local restaurants and donate to emergency food providers.

The first stage of the project — building a greenhouse — is already finished. Planting has already begun for the garden’s first harvest this fall. Next spring, organizers will build production gardens that surround the greenhouse. And the following fall, they will introduce an orchard and put the finishing touches on the garden.

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