Growing food in the city : two approaches to exploring scaling up urban agriculture in Detroit
Increased interest in the sustainability of urban landscapes, the rise of community gardens as a response to degraded neighborhood conditions and marginalized communities, and dissatisfaction with the conventional food system have all contributed to an increase in the number of urban farms and gardens across many US cities in recent decades. As urban agriculture (UA) practices become more widespread and gain support from a broader range of actor groups, it will be important to understand the impacts of transitioning from UA at the neighborhood scale to UA at the city scale. This research explores the dimensions and possibilities of expanded levels of urban food production in Detroit, MI through two distinct methodological approaches. Drawing on focus groups with residents and interviews, both with UA practitioners and those professionally engaged with UA, chapter two reveals the vision for, the dimensions of and the potential for scaling up urban agriculture in Detroit. Chapter three draws on secondary data analysis and an inventory of publicly-owned vacant parcels in Detroit to estimate the extent of the possible contribution to the food supply from urban food production. Research results show, first, broad support for UA in Detroit but different expectations for the role and the extent of farms and gardens and, secondly, an apparent potential to supply a substantial portion of current fresh fruit and vegetable consumption on less than the cataloged acreage of vacant land if high-productivity biointensive yields are assumed
Thesis, Dissertation, English, 2009