Urban farming expanding in Detroit

The Detroit Free Press has an interesting article about the expansion of urban farming in Detroit and how it could soon become a powerful tool for creating jobs and financial opportunity for residents — on top of the fact that it can bring fresh produce to a city that has little access to it due to a lack of grocery stores.

There are multiple efforts to do this, including RecoveryPark and Hantz Farms, which seek to increase the amount of urban land used for farming to as much as 2,000 acres:

Those involved say 2010 will be the critical year to get these efforts in the ground instead of just talked about.

“I think it’ll move from a theory to a reality this year,” said Michael Score, president of Hantz Farms.

Gary Wozniak, director of the RecoveryPark project, agreed that the coming months will see the first flowering of a new farm economy in Detroit.

“We’re talking about creating an entirely brand new industry in the city,” he said.

This could be a very beneficial thing for the city. But it will be important to make sure that proper testing and remediation is done on farm parcels that are contaminated by lead and other elements and chemicals.