Courtney and I decided to take a trip to Eastern Market on Saturday morning to see the Grown in Detroit produce stands and experience the excitement and buzz of shopping the market. Later in the day we visited the Earthworks Urban Farm which feeds into the Capuchin Soup Kitchen.
While we didn't have the chance to speak with any vendors, we did enjoy the experience of shopping the market. I'd never attended before and had no idea what to expect. I ended up buying $15 in produce, breads and cheese. And Courtney purchased this massive tree-like growth of brussels sprouts.
We then made our way to the Earthworks Urban Farm to see if we could speak to anyone volunteering or working. We were lucky enough to happen upon a group of people just finishing their work. We had the chance to speak to the person in charge of the volunteers and asked her a couple of questions about the farm, as well as her knowledge about the Hantz Farms project.
What she had to say was quite disheartening, although it did make sense that she would feel the way she does. The way she put it is, what does an investment banker from Southfield know about what's best for the community? How can he help? How will he be getting the community involved in the project? She was obviously not very informed on what the project was about, but at the same time, she already had a negative viewpoint.
The Earthworks Urban Farm is vastly different than what Hantz Farms will grow to be, although there are many similarities and things to keep in mind. While Hantz will be a larger and more commercial approach to urban agriculture, they will need to maintain a friendly and unobtrusive message through their aesthetic and branding in order to win over the people who are already viewing them as a negative entity. They will need to devote themselves on informing and keeping the community involved every step of the way.
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