The tour bus arrived at The D-Town farm. Its two acres were carved out of River Rouge Park. Kadiri Sennefer digs, plants and prunes. He says that should be natural for African-Americans.  But it’s not.

“Slavery has dealt us a deadly blow in the psychology of our minds and how we view the land. The reason that we’re detached from the land is that younger generations associate working the land with slavery and not realizing that we have roots in agriculture. That’s one of our great legacies coming out of Africa.”

Slavery and the civil war ended in 1865. But share cropping continued for 70 years after that.   Farming meant poverty. Kadiri Sennefer says:

“I think people (African-Americans) were tired of the treatment that we got in the south.”

In 2009, according to the Pew Research Center, the median net wealth of white households was $113,000. Black households had just $6,000.

Detroit’s farms are meant to make people richer, more fulfilled and healthy by rejecting…

“The pesticides that major corporations use like Monsanto with the GMO’s (genetically modified organisms)… the scientific lab food that we have that’s highly processed. It is killing us. It’s hazardous.”

Chemicals have helped kill bugs and disease and increase the amount of food produced. But organic farmers say they’re not worth it.

“Composting was a way of fertilizing our crops. So that’s one of the models that we’re trying to get back to at D-Town: land stewardship, taking care of the land properly, creating healthy soil. If you don’t have good soil you won’t have good plants.”

Sennefer uses the language of the decolonization movement after World War 2…when Africans began the struggle to govern their own countries.

“It’s a self-determination project. We’re not looking for anyone to do it for us. We come out here and do the work for ourselves. We dig for ourselves and we do for ourselves.”

Detroit’s got 40 square miles of vacant land. D-Town is the largest farm in Detroit. Still just 2 acres. Brightmoor is another neighborhood where people are farming. Gwen Shivers is holding a garden hose. 5 little tots have watering cans.

“I live about 6 houses down. I run a day care. I’ve been over here about 30 years. I’ve been doing this garden for about 3 years. I decided to turn it into an edible plays scape so my kids can have something that they could learn and work on and watch things grow all summer long.”

“More. More,” say the children and Shivers repeats what they say.

“Once you get them started,” she says, “they don’t want to stop.”

I ask a boy why he likes gardening.

“Cuz it’s fun. It’s so much fun.”

Gwen Shivers asks the boy why he’s watering?

The boy says he wants the lettuce and blueberries to grow.

Shivers asks what the kids will do when the crops grow.

“Eat them,” the boy shouts.

“Eat them. That’s right,” says Shivers.

Frank Rochowiak farms in Washtenaw County. He’s been bringing his produce to sell at the Eastern Market for 50 years. So he knows Detroit. But he says:

“These are great projects. But they’re not feeding enough people.”

That’s true. But urban farms serve other purposes. Kathryn Underwood works for the Detroit City Council. She’s writing agriculture policy: setting the rules. Underwood says the people that have been mowing and hoeing empty lots for years should get the first chance to buy them.

“We need to find ways to honor the work that has been done already by these small scale growers and not let the work that they’ve been doing get lost as we look at bigger and sexier projects.”

State Senators Joe Hune and Virgil Smith organized the tour. They’ve asked Michigan’s Attorney General if it’s acceptable for cities bigger than 100,000 to make their own agriculture ordinances. Senator Hune has crops and animals on his farm in rural Livingston County. He says cities should encourage agriculture too.

“The ingenuity, the creativity that these folks had particularly in the Brightmoor neighborhood was exciting to see. Folks are so interested in community development, so interested in seeing some blighted areas turn back into useful areas.”

Senator Smith says urban farmers are good role models for at risk youth:

“There’s an old saying that we have. The streets take you under. The hood takes you under. And so you’re lost for good.  So they end up being recruited into a lifestyle that has no positive outcome. So it’s my goal for folks to go in the opposite direction.”

Senator Smith says urban farmers could influence tiny tots and teenagers to get off the streets and onto the farms. Both senators plan to introduce legislation later this year.

Click here for more on the philosophy driving some of Detroit’s farmers.

http://detroitblackfoodsecurity.org/

Most of us don’t cross from Detroit to Windsor very often. But the people of Ontario are right there looking at us. Watching Michigan tv stations, listening to Michigan radio stations and trying to absorb the pollution we send them.

In the time it takes to drive from downtown Detroit to the Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi, you could drive to Henry DeNotter’s farm. 35 miles from the Ren Cen. Just two miles from Lake Erie. DeNotter and another farmer are cranking a machine to load soybeans.

“Well I’ve seen the algae blooms and I don’t think you need to blame farmers, Canadian or American for doing that because I think all farmers are being a lot more conscientious about how fertilizer is being spread.”

Fertilizer contains phosphorous. Scientists say that’s what’s feeding the algae that looks like spilled green paint on the surface of Lake Erie.

“Pay attention to what’s going on when it’s wet. Don’t get out on the ground and some of the nutrient placement we’re more frugal these years. We don’t just go and dump a couple hundred pounds of fertilizer on the field. We really look at the field, test it and put the fertilizer where we need it. And try to put it right next to the plant so we can use it up right away.”

The town of Kingsville is nearby and right on Lake Erie. It’s frozen over and boats are up on shore. But when the ice is melted off, Henry DeNotter says, algae blooms will again be hurting fishing and tourism.

“Just big green globs of algae that they’ll stall an outboard motor.”

According to this scientist, Henry DeNotter and most farmers are not to blame.

“Well Henry scores very high. Henry is one of those really special farmers. He has a very close connection with the land. He understands a great deal about the interaction of soil, sunlight, moisture etc.”

Matthew Child is with the Essex Conservation Authority, a half hour east of Windsor. Child is less worried about the total volume of phosphorous. Some of it doesn’t even create the algae problem.

“Of the total phosphorous load that is going into the lake it consists of both an inorganic form that is difficult for life to access and use and a bio-available form which is much easier for plants to uptake. And that bio-available form has been increasing as a proportion of total phosphorous loads. Why? That is a very big science question.”

Southwest Ontario is a peninsula. It’s got water on 3 sides. The Essex Conservation Authority has modeled how fast pollution can get into drinking water.

“You spill a contaminant somewhere on the land and it can make it to that water plant intake within a couple hours and virtually the entire region is within three days.”

All of metro Detroit’s water drains to Lake Erie. The Belle, the Black, the Rouge River the Raisin. Paint Creek. 4 million people along these waters have the power to help or hurt Erie and Ontario.

“Many studies show that most urban land owners apply up to ten times the recommended rate of fertilizer. You get huge quantities of fertilizer being placed in urban areas where there’s a catch basin literally just a few feet away from the lawn. It gets flushed off in a rainfall. It all goes out into a water course that eventually drains to Lake St. Clair or Lake Erie in the case of our region and that adds to the algal issue. So it’s not strictly a rural issue.”

In 1969, Ohio’s Cuyahoga River caught fire from oil and chemicals.

In 1971, this public service announcement was made for the first Earth Day. A man appears in moccasins, buckskin, long hair and a feather. He canoes past smokestacks then pulls to a riverbank strewn with trash. He’s called the Crying Indian.

In ‘72, The U.S. and Canada reached the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. It cut pollution from factories and sewers.

Phosphorous seeps through millions of square miles.  A new U.S./Canadian agreement will target it in 2012. But to get ordinary people’s attention, it will need more of the drama found on the water 40 years ago.

Most farmers are of common white ethnic stock. But in the last couple decades, dozens of Amish families have moved to the area, some from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, some from Ohio and Indiana.

Chris McCarus was biking through the area and spoke with Miller about commodity prices, unions and corporations. Miller envies the Amish because they don’t get caught in the credit system that requires the farmer to keep increasing his debt.

Michigan has the second most crop diversity in the country after California. Asparagus, peaches, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, pumpkins, cucumbers and a couple dozen more. Kalamazoo was once the celery capital of the country. Imlay City is still bursting with carrots.

For the 2007 farm bill, Senator Stabenow got incentives passed for producers of fruits and vegetables. This appealed to the local food movement. They want closer-knit communities of people that shop at farm markets and know their farmers. They don’t want to depend on fossil fuels for transport of people and food.

Stabenow’s incentives also appealed to national children’s health advocates trying to fight obesity and diabetes. Both are considered epidemic.

The Center For Disease Control in Atlanta says childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. The prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008. The prevalence of obesity among adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 18.1%.

But the senator’s fellow committee members come from big commodity states. Corn, soybeans and wheat, all of which Michigan grows too, is often the only thing those states have.  Therefore, Stabenow will meet resistance if she wants to alter the federal food regime that’s been in place since the 1950′s.

Chris McCarus spoke with her at the annual Detroit Regional Chamber Policy Conference on Mackinac Island, 2011.  The Island is a close knit community where petroleum powered vehicles, except snowmobiles in winter, are banned.  The background sound you might hear are hooves clopping along from horse driven carriages.

Then, for five years, he was president of the Edward Lowe Foundation. It fosters entrepreneurship and environmental stewardship. The foundation is set on a 2,600 acre farm near Cassopolis in SW Michigan.

Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus spoke with Dan Wyant at the annual Farm Bureau conference on the environment. It took place yesterday in Lansing.

DR: This is a fall Saturday at the market which is busy. It will be busy until football games in the afternoon. Even today here at the end of October we got music on the front lawn which creates a totally different atmosphere for the place. Last summer care2.com and localharvest.org sponsored a love your market contest. We were the most loved market in America in 2009. CNN did survey of best markets to visit if you’re out traveling around with your family. They picked us as #10 out of their top ten list. That’s not bad.

CMC: Dick Ramsdell when did you take over?

DR: I came on board here when Uptown Reinvestment took over the market in 2002. Our goal was to revitalize the place. Obviously the city then had major financial issues just as they do today. But one of the ways they were going to cut their budget costs in 2002 was to close the market. And Uptown had the foresight to say this is a treasure. This market, a market in Flint has existed since 1905.

CMC: How much was the city of Flint paying that they were trying to save?

DR: They were paying two city employees full salary and benefits and they were not collecting that much money in rent from the vendors. So it was losing venture. It’s a year round market so you’ve got heating costs and that kind of thing.

CMC: Dick Ramsdell you’re a former teacher. You spent many years teaching in Flint. How does this compare?

DR: You know it’s not a lot different. It’s working with people. When I taught the idea was that I wasn’t the teacher and I wasn’t going to tell the kids what to do. We’re all human beings. They happen to be younger than I was. We’re all in this thing called life together. So let’s see what we can figure out and make it better for us. That’s pretty much the philosophy here too. The vendors here are wonderful people. Some of these farmers, I can not believe how hard they work. I don’t know when they sleep. It’s a tough, tough job. But again, we’re in this together. We’re trying to make this place work the same way I would hope we would try to make any place work.

When we took over 8 years ago, some (other people in town) said tear the place down and put up a new market. We said no. No. That’s what people expect from a market that has a building is….they don’t want a brand new mall.

Last year, Campbell’s gave $250,000 to the Future Farmers of America. FFA provides agriculture education classes to middle and high school students. In the contest, FFA members cast most of the votes and they’ll fix up the barns. Here’s the transcript of the video sent in by one of the winners.

“Welcome to the Bowers School Farm.”

It’s in Bloomfield Hills.

“Bowers beans are the best.”

The school district runs it.

“Everyone loves fresh tomatoes. This basil is great for pesto. Stop by Bowers Farm during harvest season.”

The other winning barn is in Bark River near Escanaba. Barbara Fudala Atencio grew up on The Augie Fudala Farm.

“The farm is still a working farm and a family leases the farmland and grows alfalfa, rye and corn on our farm for their dairy operations. They’re farmers who help grow food for America. I hope the barn restoration is an inspiration to others to restore and preserve their barns. And also educate young people as to where their food comes from.”

Oakland County has lost most its farms in the last 30 years, according to Commissioner Tom Middleton. There used to be 4,000 farms in Oakland alone. Now there are 488.

Learn more by visiting helpgrowyoursoup.com.

Utilizing Detroit’s Adopt-a-Lot program, Mark and his neighbors created the Georgia Street Community Garden. They planted vegetables, herbs, and fruits. Anyone in the neighborhood is welcome to take food from the garden free of charge. The garden also serves as a gathering place for free movies and haircuts, storytelling for kids, and potluck suppers.

Covington now wants to restore a wrecked, abandoned convenience store into a community center. He’s already got the labor donated. Now all he needs is $30,000 worth of supplies. Michigan Now contributor Zak Rosen reports from Detroit. (This story first aired on The World Vision Report)

Audio MP3: Gardening in a Detroit Adopt-a-lot

From September through November, male deer are chasing females through woods and even city streets. When they run into cars and trucks, the cops have to decide what to do with the meat. Two days before rifle season, MC Rothhorn got his chance… hunting with someone else’s front bumper.

“The sun is shining. It’s beautiful. It’s warm in the car. On the lookout for the cops, looking for that accident. Fields are glistening with that early morning frost.”

Many southern Michigan counties report up to 20 car deer crashes a day. Sheriff’s keep a list of people to call each time an accident happens. Rothhorn had put his name on Ingham County’s list. Dispatch called at 830am. State Police Trooper David Service was westbound on Holt Road near the Aleidon Township hall.

“Just ran out. Some in front of me, some behind me and one right into the front end of the car. A lot of deer hair but that’s about it.”

Deer hair was the only thing visible. The metal push bar protected the grille. Trooper Service took Rothhorn’s driver’s license.

“Still live on Leitram there?”

“I do. Right downtown next to the capitol.”

Deer permits are free. And the trooper issued one to Rothhorn.  The trooper said this is the third time he’s hit and killed a deer with his own vehicle. He pointed across the road. The deer landed inside the first couple rows of dry, tan colored corn stalks.

“Right there. Got two broken legs. Must have killed it right away cuz it didn’t move. Laying there in the sun.

“Is it my turn?”

“Yes.”

Rothhorn has never killed an animal. And he can go days without eating meat. When he does, it’s usually from a regular grocery store. He wishes he could know exactly where his meat was raised.

“Dealing with death. It’s a little bit of, not just about a kill. It’s a little bit of a mixed feeling. Somber.”

Rothhorn lives in a cohousing community of about 50 people. They bought substandard houses and fixed them up. They tore down garages to make a garden for the whole neighborhood.

“Gosh I just had an environmental stewardship meeting yesterday. We were talking about a fundraiser. Now I’m doing it. Such a thrill.”

Rothhorn has visited several Michigan farms and read books like Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres and Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable Miracle. Several of his friends don’t eat any kind of meat.

“The reason I would shun eating meat is because it’s part of an industry that doesn’t care for life. This is a reverence for life. This is very different. That’s like saying Native Americans should be vegetarians. The people who inhabited this land we’re on right now should have been vegetarians and that they were wrong to eat from the land. No. It’s not.”

No. Nothing wrong with road kill, says Yeye. He came in the truck from Lansing. They drag the small buck from the field. They load it up and drive back to the co-housing community. Yeye and his wife moved from China to live with their daughter and American son in law. Now they’re all cohousers.

Within hours, Yeye has gutted and skinned the deer.  The next day he shows a visitor 80 pounds of venison, hanging in one of the garages that wasn’t torn down. The skin is being treated with salt and stretched out by strips of wood.  Son-in-law Michael Hamlin helped out.

“We still haven’t decided what to do with the ribs. We have to go someplace where they have a bandsaw for that. It looks like a lot of meat. It is. We’re gonna be sharing.”

Down Holt Road from the car deer crash, the Osterle family raises cattle on hundreds of acres. They couldn’t be reached for comment on this story. They were out deer hunting, the conventional way.

Audio MP3: Get your deer with other people’s front bumper