Urban farms seek to feed Detroit

Convert blight to gardens

By: Stephen Clark
ABC 7
Sept. 6, 2010

Excerpt:

DETROIT (WXYZ) – It looks like a farm somewhere in the Midwest; row after row of tomatoes, peppers, broccoli and corn. Butterflies flit among the flowers. Somewhere a cricket chirps. But this isn’t Kansas; it’s the heart of Detroit.

An urban farm is carved into a row of empty lots at Linwood and Gladstone . It’s an island of green, red and orange in a sea of abandoned and burned out buildings.

“They got all kinds of vegetables, lettuce and tomatoes.” Andre McCullough tells us, “I mean what more could you ask for? We have fresh vegetables right at your hands.”

Andre grew up in the neighborhood and wants to see it return to the glory of his youth in the ‘60’s. He’s started a group called “ Quality Solutions Community Development Organization ” aimed at building a huge recreation and training center in the neighborhood. Part of that plan includes a massive community garden.

“If we can maintain our own source of food, at least 25 percent of which is most likely vegetables, that’s a significant savings over a period of a years’ time. Plus it’s healthier food. You’re saving money and time.”

Loretta Stieger picks through whatever is left on the vines and plants over at the Linwood farm. It’s late in the growing season and neighbors have already harvested the biggest produce.

“My husband died and he was the gardener,” she tells us, “I just couldn’t do it this year.”

Read the complete article here.