Story and Photos By Christine MacIntyre
Tucked into a three-acre section of Brush Street in Detroit’s North End lies a utopia of freshly grown foods available to the surrounding communities at no cost. Made possible by the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (MUFI), the project, known as America’s first sustainable urban agrihood, aims to combat challenges unique to urban communities such as Detroit. More than 120,000 pounds of food are grown from seed from this portion of Detroit’s land, which was once abandoned.
According to the all-volunteer organization’s website, the MUFI utilizes the agricultural neighborhood, or agrihood, “as a platform to promote education, sustainability, and community while simultaneously reducing socioeconomic disparity.” Vacant, unutilized land, and a lack of food security are concerning issues that have led to a lost sense of empowerment within the surrounding community. The MUFI’s adaptive use of the land on which it resides, and the existing environment, demonstrates sustainable urban farming practices and, in turn, is an effective strategy for increasing food security.
A Model of Innovation & Sustainability
The urban farm began as a humble community garden under an adopt-a-lot program in 2011. Now, the operation scales a much larger area spread over several acres near Brush and Custer, demonstrating creativity and innovation for the use of space. In 2011, anyone could relocate to Detroit due to the vacant land. “You could take over a vacant lot, and as long as you kept it up and showed good stewardship, the deed was transferred to your name after ten years. In 2013, that changed,” said long-time volunteer Michael Willard.
Working on numerous parcels of land, the organization acquired additional lots from private owners and county foreclosure auctions. However, the early years saw some difficulty obtaining deeds to other properties due to the city’s requirement for approval of larger-scale land use. Although the city seemingly recognized the agricultural efforts as positive, they cited higher priority items such as affordable housing opportunities as reasons for their resistance.
The lots owned by the MUFI through adopt-a-lot went into a government organization, the Detroit Land Bank Authority. After raising the assessed taxable value for the eight lots, the nonprofit put forward the funds to purchase the lots. However, Willard said the city denied their proposal, citing that they had earmarked the land for mixed-use development. After years of negotiations, the organization finally purchased the lots in 2018. “However, we aren’t allowed to grow further until 2028 in the city of Detroit.”
Not only does the vacant land provide a foundation for various fresh foods to grow, but the existing structures also offer an opportunity for cost-competitive blight deconstruction that doesn’t necessarily involve demolition. The historic North End of Detroit is one of the city’s neighborhoods facing gentrification. While this process typically bestows negative impacts, including forced displacement, discriminatory behaviors by people in power, and exclusion of low-income individuals and people of color, this area of Detroit is embracing the process of changing the neighborhood’s character through culturally rooted leadership and methodologies. The agrihood is a relevant, positive difference-maker in the majority black community.
Innovations in blue and green infrastructure further demonstrate the intelligent use of space. For example, a fire dilapidated home adjacent to the plots where food is being grown serves as a water harvesting cistern. Since water and sewage are expensive in the area, using the property as a water collection system provides cost-effective farm irrigation and avoids stormwater run-off. “One of our biggest challenges as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit is paying for the water. Our bills can be hundreds to thousands of dollars per month sometimes. So, we have the cistern to complement our water system.”
Additionally, plans for a long-vacant three-story apartment complex involve the collaboration of businesses to redevelop the space into a multi-functional community space. Several companies, including BASF, General Motors, PPG, and others, are partnering together, finding viable ways their materials and resources can assist in the building’s transformation.
According to a 2017 press release, MUFI president and founder Tyson Gersh said, “We’re emphasizing efficiency with some of the most sustainable, progressive building products and techniques available today. Our Community Center will serve as an example of how we must reinvent the way we plan our buildings, neighborhoods, and communities.” The premise for these projects lies in Gersh’s belief that Detroit presents the opportunity for sustainability and innovation in looking toward the city’s future. Many speculate that this project, once finished, will be a showcase example—one of the most sustainable, energy-efficient buildings in Detroit.
Key Features
MUFI’s farm began in 2011 as a quest to enhance the neighborhood and provide a valuable resource to residents. In 2017, the agrihood was featured as a model for sustainable urban planning at Sustainable Brands 2017 global conference, held at the Cobo Convention Center in Detroit. Forged out of necessity and the urgency to relieve the plight of the surrounding community, the agricultural space boasts orchards, gardens, a hoop house, a seed container house, a community center, and a cistern. Willard said about ten total projects are occurring. “They’re all in different phases, but the most complete project is our farm.”
Not all the projects are farm specific. For example, the community resource center, previously utilized as a three-story six-unit apartment complex, continues to undergo rehab and will house administrative space, multi-purpose space for meetings, training, workshops, yoga classes, and more, a production and packaging kitchen for value-added products, and a for-profit farm-themed marketplace. The brick-floored hoop house also has a neat location for rehearsal dinners and other gatherings. “We’re open to a lot of different things,” said Willard.
Key features of the farm include more than 300 vegetable varieties which provide about 20,000 lbs. of produce annually. The food grown on the land is free to over 2,000 households, food pantries, churches, and businesses surrounding the farm. Healthy, fresh-harvested foods picked by volunteers are available at the easily accessible, on-site produce stand, which is open every Saturday. Nothing goes to waste, as MUFI donates any leftover at the end of the day.
The organic movement is woven into the grassroots farm and its processes. “All our stuff here is organic, except the flowers,” said Willard. “We are a no-till farm, and we don’t treat with pesticides. We use fertilizer, but it’s all-natural, such as worm castings. We’re all about organic here.”
“We have over 350 varieties of produce including six types of lettuce, 22 varieties of peppers including 11 sweet and 11 hot, three varieties of cabbage, nine to 11 varieties of eggplant, 11 rows of collards, 22 varieties of tomatoes, nine to 11 varieties of each summer and winter squash, beets, radishes, onions, beans.” There are herb and perennial sections as well. In addition, a century garden furnishes strawberries, blackberries, boysenberries, huckleberries, honeyberries, and champagne grapes.
“There’s a big population from the South because of Detroit’s automotive industry. When I first started volunteering here in 2015, we only had four rows of collards. But because of all the people here from the South, there was such a huge demand for them, so we increased the number of rows,” said Willard. “Also, no one knew what kale was, but everyone was requesting kale by the end of that season.”
The high-density fruit orchard boasts around 200 fruit tree varieties–Detroit’s most diverse and dense urban orchard. Apple, pear, plum, peach, and cherry trees have taken root there; each selection fit for Michigan weather to ensure optimal productivity.
A Need for Improved Food Security
According to a 2022 report by Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Food Security Council (FCS), “the social determinants of food insecurity have the greatest impact on the nature, scope, and causes of food insecurity. There is an interconnectedness between poverty, health, and food insecurity.” Determinants include racial and ethnic inequality; health, age, and disability status; and poverty, income, and unemployment. The FSC was initiated to increase funding for fresh and culturally appropriate food through local and regional programs, expand childhood nutrition programs, improve food access, and improve access to resources, to name a few. The MUFI’s agrihood addresses these issues.
In the FSC’s report, the finding that “high food insecurity rates correlate with pronounced racial disparities…” indicates several areas of Detroit as subpopulations vulnerable to food insecurity. For example, while statistics show that approximately 1.3 million Michiganders faced food insecurity in 2019, 2020 proved incredibly challenging, increasing to 1.90 million Michiganders facing food insecurity, including 552,000 children. In addition, 22% of black households and 17% of Hispanic households were food insecure in 2020–a stark contrast to the seven percent represented by white households.
A 2019 food security report specific to Detroit showed that 39 percent of households were food insecure and that there was a $500M loss in retail grocery revenue. As shocking as they may be, the high food insecurity rates correlate with pronounced racial disparities, such as those found in urban areas with predominately black residents. Healthy food access and affordability are dominant factors, especially in low-income communities such as Detroit’s North End and others under-resourced.
The Covid-19 pandemic placed a seemingly insurmountable hindrance on food insecurity in Michigan, as it led to unemployment, the loss of in-person learning, and a set of new economic challenges. While food distribution methods and assistance programs adapted, the state still witnessed disproportionate access to food across the population.
The implications of food insecurity stretch beyond hunger. According to the CDC, four Michigan counties, including Wayne County, have over $100 million in healthcare costs associated with food insecurity. In addition, Bread for the World Institute research found additional costs related to food insecurity. These include educational expenses, costs incurred by students dropping out of school due to food insecurity, and those “based on the value of poor educational outcomes and lower lifetime earnings due to hunger and food insecurity.”
Food Desert, Food Swamp, Food Apartheid?
While some industry professionals argue that we can’t classify Detroit as a food desert, there is no denying the lack of physical access to retailers that stock healthy, nutritious foods, let alone affordable foods, in many areas. Food initiatives such as urban and community gardens, independent retailers operating in areas of low food access, and charitable food programs, including mobile food markets and grocery recovery programs, are suggested targets for more significant investment from the State of Michigan. By the Department of Agriculture’s definition of a food desert, about 10 percent of Detroit could be classified as a food desert, as there are small pockets without easy access to grocery stores organizing the city instead as a “food grassland.”
Program manager of research and policy at the Detroit Food Policy Council, Amy Kuras, agrees that Detroit can’t be labeled a food desert. Instead, it may be a food swamp, indicating difficulty finding fresh food if you don’t know where to look. In January, Kuras told the Capital News Service, “All the major thoroughfares, especially once you get out of the downtown areas, it’s fast food, coneys everywhere.” Where people have more economical needs, food swamps tend to cluster. Additionally, food apartheid refers to the idea that the lack of food isn’t random; instead, it is a consequence of something else. Due to the amount of policy, planning, and racism in the area, people perceive Detroit negatively–as a place not to do business. These factors make residents rely heavily on party stores or convenience stores for food.
Racist policies, the perception of crime, and Detroit’s depopulation led to many grocery store chains closing. Around three percent of the area’s food outlets are made up of supermarkets and large groceries, and fewer than half of the city’s food outlets consist of fast-food restaurants, gas stations, and liquor and convenience stores. However, the food outlets such as MUFI and other urban farms, community and school gardens, and farmers’ markets are often left out and unaccounted for due to these being unrecognized and unsupported by many policies. These outlets make a significant impact on food justice, and that leads to improved food access.
According to Willard, “The closest store to the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative is Whole Foods.” However, how much does fresh, organic produce at stores such as Whole Foods cost? “The neighborhood here is socioeconomically diverse. A lot of people in this neighborhood are renters. Even myself, I live in a suburb of Detroit and can’t afford Whole Foods. People can come to the farm and get organic produce for free.”
The urban ag epicenter keeps data on where the food goes. “We have the data backing, showing where the food is going and how it’s utilized. I don’t think many people realized how great of a need there was for what we are doing here. There are 1,500 urban gardens in Detroit, but to be an urban garden, you only need a couple of tires and a couple of plants.” Some urban gardens closed due to the labor and time-intensive care required to manage them.
Promotion of Inclusion and Diversity
“We are 100 percent volunteer-driven. Our foremost tenet is food insecurity,” said Willard. “We have people from the community come here; we were originally intended mainly for the North End. But, since we started in 2011, we’ve started getting people from other communities–Metro Detroit, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, and Washtenaw counties, all over. In addition, people come from all over the world in the summertime.”
Volunteer groups include local and suburban schools, outdoor gear and apparel store Moosejaw, churches, and corporations such as General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, and Henry Ford Academy, to name a few. According to Willard, MUFI is not religiously based; however, “we welcome people from all walks of life. Everyone from toddlers all the way up to seniors come to help. We accommodate everyone and any ability.” From Memorial Day through December, the farm is bustling with volunteers working the farm. Over 100,000 volunteers have contributed their time and efforts since 2011.
Surrounding communities may not have a lot of exposure to farming and agriculture, so Gersh finds it important to teach best practices and to bring conversations on agriculture and farming to the area. MUFI is establishing these connections for the community and bringing fresh food options to this Detroit neighborhood are a priority. While it requires year-round dedication, countless hours of manual labor, teamwork, innovation, careful planning, and behind-the-scenes strategic work, everyone benefits.
The original vision was one of aesthetically pleasing and presentable land use. “We are laid out like a production level farm, to maintain that aesthetic of looking like a farm, rather than utilizing the raised bed style gardens some community gardens use.” However, vandalism has become prevalent in Detroit area farms such as this. “Last year, we got broken into 11 times; this year, we’ve been vandalized three times as of a week ago and nine before.” We’ve had tools stolen out of a volunteer-built woodshed. People have tried to break into every structure on our campus.” Vandals broke the upcycled windows that compose the seed container house because they seemingly thought there were construction tools inside.
Additionally, “In 2016, we won a contest for $40,000 from Scott’s Miracle Grow for our century garden. Another organization called Sit-On-It Detroit builds these benches to place at bus stops throughout Detroit. Well, we had it in our budget because of the money we won, so we purchased a couple of benches. Within six months, people snatched them up. It’s constant,” Willard said.
“What we really need right now is the community to come out and volunteer. It’s great that we give away free food, but additional volunteers, especially from this community, would be really nice to see.” Unfortunately, Covid-19 put a damper on volunteer turnout, as many still take precautions. Willard said he relocated back to his home state from California and quickly found his place with MUFI. “The school I went to had alumni service day. One organization had 300 volunteers, and this one had three, so I showed up at this one. I liked it and kept showing up on Saturdays.”
MUFI’s agrihood is more than beautiful floral blooms, plentiful fruit trees, and a produce-producing garden. Its underpinnings run deep in the space of inclusion and accessibility, and its processes are a platform for education and awareness in a time and place of diverse needs. The beauty of the gardens, orchards, and buildings is more than surface deep. It encompasses complex implications such as combating food injustice and repurposing otherwise dilapidated and vacant establishments.
The efforts would not be possible without the help of volunteers, as well as donations and partnerships with community members and organizations. Ways to support programing costs include shopping through Amazon Smile, Kroger Community Rewards, and monetary and cryptocurrency donations. For more information on their projects, to stay up to date on progress, and to learn how you can help, visit miufi.org. Sustainable agriculture relies on Michigan communities to engage in projects such as this one. The future for food security has the potential to keep improving with generous people who continue to make a difference every day.
