D-Town Here I Come

If you've been following the enthusiasm for urban farming then you've read about what's going on in Detroit. With an estimated 110,000 vacant lots, 1/3 of the city's 138 square miles, and no grocery stores in the downtown area, Detroit organizations are working to solve their own food insecurity issues. Here are a few of the organizations working to make healthy food a reality that piggy tails on Grist's excellent coverage of the city gone rural.

“From Motown to Grotown”
No other city has contributed so much to American culture in the first half of the twentieth century as Detroit, and no other city has collapsed so entirely in the second half. Detroit embodies the entrepreneurial spirit of the United States as the birthing place of the automobile industry, and was home to scientific and cultural leaders such as Thomas Edison. Musicians have always thrived in the city as well. Perhaps it was the cold winters or the mundane work at the auto plants that busted out so many talented musicians. At the height of the “Big Three” – Ford, Chrysler and General Motors – it is said that at the end of the day, people poured out into the streets or to the numerous music venues of the city to dance. In the late ‘50s Motown Records was started by auto-industry worker, Berry Gordy, who produced some of the biggest names in R&B and Soul/Funk such as The Supremes, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and others. Pop, rap, techno and rock musicians have continued to come out of Michigan and the Detroit music scene and have included such influencing names as Madonna, Iggy Pop, Bob Seger, George Clinton, Kid Rock and Eminem.

“Right-Sizing” of Detroit
Alongside the musical and cultural revolutions that happened in Detroit in the ‘50s, the exodus of the city had also begun; a trend that only accelerated in the past five years since the bankruptcy of the automobile industry. The last Census Bureau analysis showed that Detroit’s population decreased from its peak at just below 2 million in the ‘50s, to 900,000 residents. City officials estimate that by the time the next census is completed that the number will have dropped to 800,000 as people who can leave, do. That’s why the present Mayor, Mayor Bing, is proposing to “right-size” the city.

Detroit is sprawled out over 138 square miles (88,320 acres), with an estimated 40 square miles (25,600 acres), 29 percent or roughly 1/3, that has been abandoned. This represents a huge challenge to the city as basic service to various neighborhoods becomes costly in such low population densities. In August 2010, Mayor Bing announced the creation of “The Detroit Strategic Framework Plan” that will work to centralize, or “right-size”, the city, the people, and the resources over the next ten years.

And tomorrow, I have the great fortune to travel to Detroit and to meet with some of the people making it happen, growing food old school style, to the funk of a different band.

The Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN) "is a coalition of organizations and individuals working together to build food security in Detroit’s Black community by: 1) influencing public policy; 2) promoting urban agriculture; 3) encouraging co-operative buying; 4) promoting healthy eating habits; 5) facilitating mutual support and collective action among members; and 6) encouraging young people to pursue careers in agriculture, aquaculture, animal husbandry, bee-keeping and other food related fields.

Since our inception, we have focused our energies in three main areas: urban agriculture, policy development and co-operative buying. A brief history of our efforts in each of these areas follows."

Earthworks Urban Farm
"Earthworks is a program of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, a human service organization of caring people inspired by the spirit of St. Francis and sponsored by the Capuchins of the Province of St. Joseph and concerned benefactors. Earthworks seeks to promote sustainable agricultural practices, nutrition and care for the Earth. We strive for peace, respect and harmony between Neighbor and Nature."

The Greening of Detroit
"Each year The Garden Resource Program supports over 200 community, family and school gardens, all producing food for Detroit neighborhoods. Marketing opportunities are available for these community gardeners under the Grown in Detroit® brand at a GRP sponsored booth at Detroit's Eastern Market and mini-Farmer's Market's throughout the city. These gardens are currently producing around 100 tons of food each year, and the program is growing on an average of 20% annually."

The Eastern Market
"The mission of the Eastern Market Corporation is to mobilize leadership and resources to achieve stakeholders vision for the Eastern Market District and make the Eastern Market the undisputed center for fresh and nutritious food in southeast Michigan."

With Gratitude

Okay, okay. So I missed the biggest day of the year to give thanks. But really, 2010 has been one heck-of-a year for all things sustainable and food-like. Keep your eyes peeled for a "Best in Food, 2010" list that I'm working on (unless Grist beats me to it!), and know that in addition to all of the farmers, eaters, food businesses and media mavens out there that are making this local food system explode, I am profoundly full of gratitude to the grandest mother of them all, Mother Earth.

Also, if you feel like sharing some of your gratitude, please post! For example, I'm also thankful for the expert mushroom hunters that I was able to hike alongside last weekend that scored the oyster, chanterelle and porcini mushrooms that were so delicious. For the wine makers (Wild Hog Vineyard) that made the best damned 2004 Zin that I shared at another meal with freshly plucked mussels from the beach. Ah... 2011 is sure to full of more good food, food initiatives to concern ourselves with and more ways in which we will learn to reshape our communities into places of abundance and opportunity.

Cheers!

Fresno - The Belly of the Beast

Fresno, California: The number one producing agricultural county in the entire U.S. also happens to suffer from some of the highest percentages of obesity and type II diabetes. One out of every three children and 70% of adults in the valley are obese despite the fact that fruits and nuts, vegetables and livestock are the top three products (respectively), that the county grows. The place, the people, the history of food production and the current situation is as much a demonstration of how awry the American food system has become, as much as it has the greatest potential for change. (It ain't the fruit that's causing the weight gain. It's primarily corn syrup and processed foods.) If Fresno can meet more of it's food needs locally instead of exporting all of its' products, if residents can grow more fresh foods and start reversing the detriments of industrial food on human health and land, then other parts of the country stand a chance too. No pressure Fresno. We're all rooting for you!

Thanks to all the great organizations here in Fresno that have invited me to come down, Fresno Metro Ministry and the Fresno Community Garden Coalition. USDA and CCROPP are also sponsors of the first ever, contemporary community gardening conference in Fresno. 'Contemporary' because I reckon that people used to meet all the time to talk about food when gardening was second nature.

World Savvy Gala - Thursday, October 13, 2010

I'm really excited about this event coming up this Thursday night in San Francisco. It's the annual fundraiser for World Savvy, a brilliant and effective nonprofit organization that has the following mission:

"World Savvy prepares the next generation of leaders to learn, work and live as responsible global citizens in the 21st century. We support systemic change in K-12 education to provide every student in every classroom with the content knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to be leaders and changemakers in their diverse communities, locally and globally.

World Savvy was founded in San Francisco by Dana Mortenson and Madiha Murshed in response to a critical need for youth to acquire global knowledge and 21st century skills within the conspicuous absence of global education programs in K-12 education in the United States. Since that time, we have grown from serving 90 students and 20 teachers in our first year, to reaching more than 6,000 youth and 1,100 teachers annually from three offices nationally: San Francisco, Minneapolis-St.Paul and New York."

Check out their website as they're doing a beautiful job educating kids about international issues and the environment. This year, they are particularly focusing on sustainable food solutions.

The Women's Land Army

Women have always been involved in agricultural production and food processing, but during World War I women were especially leaned upon to produce food in the absence of men that had gone oversees. Women were solicited to apply to farm and grow the country food - it wasn't just Rosie the Riveter out there. Women were filling all sorts of positions, even before we had the right to vote. Imagine that.

How I wish I could have witnessed those days, when women were put into the workforce, taught various jobs and skills and asked if they would grow food for our country. Well, I just learned that there's an entire book about it, written by Elaine Weiss called "Fruits of Victory," that is turning into a full-blown, three-day event in Chicago this October 5 - 7. No doubt that this blog was written after receiving an email about event and the "The Women's Land Army" from one of the organizers. She writes of the event and author Elaine Weiss:

Weiss’ three day swing through Greater Chicagoland is designed not only to educate advocates of sustainable agriculture about landmark contributions by Progressive era women to insure food security in WWI, but also to hear about the future of American food production as laid out in the "Go to 2040 Plan" of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency (CMAP) and to learn what could be incorporated into the 2012 Federal Farm Bill if women demand changes in the way American food is produced.

If I were in the Midwest, I know where I would be October 5 - 7. Check it out! The website is great as is the info about the author. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a copy.

Corn Sugar: Some quick facts and a few links

After years of experimentation corn, soft drink and junk food industry are finally getting their just deserved criticisms as they are a contemporary tobacco fight. Didn't the tobacco industry used to tell us that smoking was fine? Same thing here. The an industry akin to tobacco that is indeed, the next tobacco. Love this rebuttal video by the King Corn guys. The battle is on. While the words are flying, and Michelle Obama marches against obesity, here are some fun facts about the various sugars out there.

Beet Sugar
As 30% of the world's sugar resource, sugar beets have been cultivated for years for the extraction of their sugary sucrose. This plant was genetically modified to create Roundup Ready Sugar Beets but apparently the permit was repealed in 2009.

Honey
One of the healthiest, natural sugars, honey means that there are bees. Something which we are all lacking these days. In all parts of the country and world. This isn't a medical evaluation of the sugar. If you are interested in that, there are some great readers out there about honey, propolis and royal jelly that you should definitely read up on!

High Fructose Corn Syrup
No, you can't call it corn sugar. HFCS is a highly processed no-longer-natural sugar that Princeton has recently revoked the rights to. At least, that's why the industry promoting the syrup has just created an insidious ad campaign to fight people's adversity to their products. Their main line - no one knows what's wrong with it. Seriously? Where is the American Diabetes Association?

Molasses (high in iron), maple syrup and cane sugar are other alternatives to HFCS. But just because there's a "No HFCS" label on the front of a product's package, don't be fooled. Flip it over and you just might find "corn syrup." Ideally, the food system is getting rebalanced and the next Farm Bill 2010 (aka our taxes) will start to reflect our interest in eating healthfully. Right now the subsidies are skewing what food is most easily accessible. Check out this more journalistic approach about HFCS by Tom Laskawy on Grist:

If you would like more information about natural sweeteners, you've got to check out page 536 of Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions," book and what she has to say about all of sugars variations. It's going to get ugly out there folks, and I hope the American Diabetes Association gets the funding, to voice their concern. At least, I hope that's why we haven't heard from them yet. I wonder who's on their board of directors...

Victory is Everywhere-ish

It's easy to focus on the positive since there are a lot of living solutions happening out there right now. Solutions that people are implementing with their ingenuity, their time, and their knowledge. Urban farms are sprouting up. Seed banks and exchanges are happening in communities. People are composting and Americans are gardening again, growing the GDP by an estimated 21 billion dollars.

Recently, the USDA even halted the approval of GE sugar beets. A victory for the Center for Food Safety and citizens everywhere that are concerned about what they eat. If you're wondering what to do next, here's a recent call to action that needs your help.

"This week (August 12) a Russian court ruled that the world’s first seed bank outside of St. Petersburg, Russia may be destroyed in order to make way for a housing development. If allowed to stand, this decision will have a catastrophic impact on global plant diversity. Called a “Living Library”, the Pavlovsk Experimental Station [1] is widely considered the "crown jewel" of agricultural biodiversity, since 90% of the collection’s varieties are not found anywhere else on the planet. [2]

Scientists around the world are calling the decision an assault against biodiversity and the memory of the bitter struggle that kept this renowned seed bank alive during the darkest days of World War II. Founded in 1926 by Russian agricultural scientist Nikolai Vavilov, the Pavlovsk Experimental Station, became an icon of human perseverance when 12 Soviet scientists made a stand, choosing to starve to death rather than eat the precious seed and plant collection [3] as Nazi soldiers killed more than 1.5 million Russian soldiers and citizens during the grueling 900-day siege of Leningrad between 1941 and 1943. [4]"

And here's the petition that you need to sign!

While you may wonder, "What does a seed bank in Russia have to do with me?" the answer is pretty simple. We need to preserve seeds around the world because we are losing plant diversity fast. Diversity is needed to ensure survival of crops, that means food crops too. Also, seeds contain the traits that we need to continue growing food successfully with the changing weather conditions caused by global climate change. They also have the answers to our health problems too, in that studies have shown that when people eat traditional varieties of crops - those not bred for high gluten, sugar, or other qualities - that people's health improves. Not to mention, with the release of genetically modified organisms into our environment, we're going to need untainted, pure seed stock, in the future. It's true.