Urban Agriculture in Detroit

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Urban Agriculture is "part of a local food system where food is produced within an urban area and marketed to consumers within that area" (2021).

However, urban agriculture is so much more than just the action of planting crops in urban areas.

Urban agriculture is a sustainable answer to accommodate the growing urban populations.

Cities require many resources, including food, to function; for example, cities and urban areas only cover “2.7% of total land area, [and] they consume 80% of all resources” (Ghebremichael, 2021).

The study of urban metabolism is “the sum total of the technical and socio-economic processes that occur in cities resulting in growth, production of energy, and elimination of waste” (Kennedy et al., 2011). Urban metabolism models help identify inputs of resources and outputs of waste in cities. Cities import the majority of their food, which requires time and energy and increases the number of resources needed and waste created to feed the city. Urban Agriculture reunites cities with food production, reducing the time and energy necessary to transport and distribute food. Urban agriculture creates a closed-loop system where food is grown inside the system, and food waste returns to the system as compost. 

In Detroit, Michigan, Urban Farms and Community Gardens are changing the city's landscape, bringing life back to abandoned plots of land and providing opportunity, generating hope, and improving residents' health.

Urban farming benefits the local economy by providing new employment opportunities for locals and the chance to learn new skills. In fact, in 2010, “community food projects funded by the USDA provided an estimated 2,300 jobs and incubated over 3,600 micro-businesses” (Golden, 2013 p. 13). Many urban farms provide educational and youth programs to help teach the community about urban agriculture. These new skills can be used to create their own personal gardens, or find a job in urban agriculture.

Many urban farms are placed on vacant lots in cities. Vacant lots cost cities thousands of dollars per lot in terms of upkeep. A report done by advocacy group SPUR on San Francisco found that “community management of vacant lots transformed into urban agriculture sites saved the Department of Public Works an estimated $4,100 a year per site by preventing vandalism, dumping, and labor-intensive upkeep” (Golden, 2013 p. 15).

In addition, Urban farming increases local property values by “as much as 9.4% within five years of establishment” by removing vacant lots and beautifying neighborhoods (Golden, 2013 p. 16).

Lastly, urban farming allows residents to purchase locally grown produce that is typically less expensive than the produce found at a grocery store. Individual gardeners can save around “ $475 a season” and community garden programs can save up “to $915,000 worth of food a year” (Golden, 2013 p. 14).

Urban farming increases green spaces and biodiversity in cities. Green spaces "can help reduce levels of air contaminants" because "[l]eaf surfaces on these greened areas act as natural sinks for common contaminants" (Knizhnik, 2012 p. 39).

Urban farming can also offset the urban heat island effect. The Urban Heat Island Effect is “defined as higher mean temperatures in an urban area than the surrounding rural area” (Alexandri and Jones, 2008; Getter and Rowe, 2006; Memon et al., 2008 cited in Ackerman et al., 2014). Urban agriculture increases the amount of vegetation and evapotranspiration, which acts as “a heat sink and also results in lower ambient and surface temperatures than urban areas without vegetation” (Ackerman et al., 2014). 

Urban agriculture also reduces the energy needed to transport food to table. On average, “food typically travels about 1,300 miles (2,080 km) from farm to table” which could be reduced to only 30 miles if the food was grown locally (Ackerman et al., 2014).

Also, by reducing the time and distance it takes to get food to table, food has a higher probability of being eaten or used before it spoils, which reduces food waste. Food waste is a burden on the system because resources like fuel and energy are wasted during transportation, only for the food to be thrown away due to spoiling too soon.

Urban agriculture can help reduce the damage done by food waste by utilizing food waste and turning it into compost to be added back into the food production system. By returning the food to the system, urban agriculture reduces a city's environmental footprint and creates a closed-loop system.

Urban farms provide areas for communities to come together and not just for the garden itself but also festivals, concerts, and other events. Community gardens and urban farms create safe spaces for the community to come together. They help to improve the physical space of neighborhoods. Community gardens and Urban farms reunite the community with nature, which is not often present in urban areas.

Many urban farms also implement youth educational activities and opportunities for “cross-generation sharing between youth and seniors” (Golden, 2013, p. 11). They are spaces for communities to connect, grow and learn from one another. These spaces boost local pride. Urban farms also offer healthy, affordable produce options needed in low-income neighborhoods or neighborhoods in the middle of food deserts. 

According to Keep Detroit Growing (2021), there are over 1,900 community gardens and urban farms in Detroit.

The map above contains a collection of urban farm location data based on Google Maps. Unfortunately, as many of the smaller Urban Farms and community gardens in Detroit do not have an online presence, they are not listed on this map. If you would like to add or update data on Urban Farms and Community Gardens in Detroit, Michigan, please click the button below to fill out the survey. Thank you for your submissions!

Food access, food security and poverty are major concerns for residents in the city of Detroit.

The United States Department of Agriculture (2019) states that food access is measured by these indicators:

• Accessibility to sources of healthy food, as measured by distance to a store or by the number of stores in an area.

• Individual-level resources that may affect accessibility, such as family income or vehicle availability.

• Neighborhood-level indicators of resources, such as the average income of the neighborhood and the availability of public transportation.

Food Security is the measure of how reliable ones access to healthy and desirable food is. The United States Department of Agriculture (2020) defines four levels of Food Security:

• High food security: no reported indications of food-access problems or limitations.
• Marginal food security : one or two reported indications—typically of anxiety over food sufficiency or shortage of food in the house. Little or no indication of changes in diets or food intake.
• Low food security : reports of reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet. Little or no indication of reduced food intake.
• Very low food security : reports of multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.

Poverty can be measured with "the poverty guidelines updated periodically in the Federal Register by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the authority of 42 U.S.C. 9902(2)" (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2021). The average amount of people per household in Detroit, Michigan, are 2.5 (US Census Bureau, n.d.). Based off the poverty guidelines, a 2 person household would be in poverty if they had a combined household income of $17,420.

Urban farms provide a sustainable solution to access healthy, inexpensive produce that can help decrease food insecurity in Detroit, and boost the local economy.

The United States Census Bureau reports that the median income in Detroit is $30,894, and 35% of Detroit residents are in poverty (n.d.). The 2019 Detroit Food Metrics Report disclosed that 39% of households in Detroit are food insecure, meaning they do not have reliable access to healthy food (Detroit Food Policy Council, 2019).

Many neighborhoods in Detroit are classified as food deserts, or areas where there is little to no access to affordable healthy food. Residents turn to convenience stores and fast food restaurants to provide food for their households. In 48201, over 50% of the households are in poverty, however the nearest grocery store is a Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods is known for being on the more expensive side of groceries. There are not many public transportation options in Detroit, so it can be difficult for residents who do not own vehicles to travel to affordable grocery stores.

Urban farms and community gardens provide accessible and affordable healthy foods to communities that may not have other options. This map shows a collection of the larger urban farms and community gardens in Detroit and how many households are within a 1 mile walking distance of those farms. For example, North Cass Community Garden is located in 48201, Detroit's zip code with the highest percentage of residents under the poverty threshold. There are 4,387 households under the poverty level within a 1 mile walking distance of North Cass Community Garden. The access to healthy, fresh produce within walking distance can help fend off hunger and other health issues, and increases food security.