The Greening of Detroit

By Elizabeth DiNovella, June 23, 2010.

The U.S. Social Forum kicked off Tuesday, June 22, in Detroit. The social forum is a gathering of activists from around the country. It’s a chance to catch up, network, and organize under the banner of “another world is possible.” Organizers are expecting as many as 20,000 people to participate.

I tried to register today several times but the lines were incredibly long. At one point registration was closed so folks could participate in the opening march.

Why Detroit? It’s easy to think Detroit as a city of decay, poverty, and violence. But there is so much more to the city.

To give but one example, Detroit has a vibrant community garden scene. Today I went to a workshop about the Greening of Detroit.

Subscribe to The Progressive

Detroit’s population has shrunk to about a quarter of what it was forty or fifty years ago, leaving lots of open green space. But neighborhood groups are transforming these vacant lots into community gardens.

The Detroit Garden Resource Program Collaborative is the hub of this effort. In 2003, four organizations–the Greening of Detroit, Detroit Agriculture Network, EarthWorks Urban Farm/Capuchin Soup Kitchen, and Michigan State University–began working together to provide support for the city’s urban gardeners.

Seven years ago there were 8o community gardens, consisting of neighborhood gardens, backyard patches, and school gardens. By 2009, there were 800 community gardens. This year there are 1200, including some urban farms.

Education, nutrition information, shared tools, workshops (on topics ranging from how to build hoop houses to composting lessons) are some of the things the garden resource program excels at.

A few years ago, gardeners decided to sell the food they produced, starting at local farmers markets. In the first year, they made just under $1000. This year, they expect to rake in between $60,000–$80,000.

And they’ve branched out beyond farmers markets. They’ve created relationships with Detroit restaurants to sell locally produced veggies and fruits.

Ultimately, these community gardens are a way to do community organizing. And that’s what makes it so inspiring–and necessary. And community organizing is at the heart of the U.S. Social Forum.

If you liked this article by Elizabeth DiNovella, the culture editor of The Progressive, check out her piece “Eminem Wants Everyone to Have the Right to Be Miserable.”

Follow Elizabeth DiNovella @lizdinovella on Twitter

Subscribe to The Progressive

Please log into Facebook to post comments.
The Progressive facebook page The Progressive twitter page The Progressive Weekly Radio The Progressive Daily Radio The Progressive Weekly Radio

CURRENT ISSUE: June 2013

June 2013

Preserving Our Home on Earth

We’ve released our second eBook  from a new “Hidden History e-book series: monthly installments  of  riveting selections from our  archives.

Preserving Our Home on  Earth: 100 Years of Environmental  Writing from the Archives of The  Progressive Magazine. is now  available from Amazon and Barnes&Noble.

"Since we only have one planet to call our own, it might be worth reading this book." —Bill McKibben



Welcome to The Progressive Magazine