To challenge the decay of Detroit, urban agriculture, launched by the community-based farm Earthworks, and with the support of the city, is progressively revitalizing the city.

After being the world capital of car manufacturing, Detroit turned into a blighted city typified by vacant lots with people barely managing to make a sufficient income. The people struggle to find work and affordable, healthy food.

Integrating community empowerment and social justice, urban farming has thus begun to take a larger role in Detroit, providing in food deserts healthier food options, and ultimately decreasing food insecurity within the city. Earthworks has been working in Detroit for over a decade to improve the lives of Detroit’s residents. It has since then become the first and oldest certified-organic community-based farm in Detroit. The urban agriculture is compost-based and does not use any harmful chemicals in their processes. Particularly, Detroit’s city government is making great strides to promote urban agriculture, by providing tax deductions for people working in urban farms or increasing government grants to construct urban gardens.

Consequently, urban agriculture has become an outlet for people to work together and produce healthy food that can be distributed within the city or sold for profit. As a sustainable way to cheaply grow healthy produce, urban agriculture benefits the most to vulnerable members of the population and contribute to the urban redevelopment of Detroit.

Photo by Bekah Beth on Flickr