Many plants like spinach leech toxins from the soil so over time the soil could heal.
I think the biggest obstacle to this sort of thing would be that it would be seen as "giving up" by the government. They have the ability to block it too because of zoning laws.
From the article:
"Not all contaminants, however, are easily treated by bioremediation using microorganisms. For example, heavy metals ...
Phytoremediation is useful in these circumstances, because natural plants or transgenic plants are able to bioaccumulate these toxins... [heavy metals in biomass] may be further concentrated by incineration or even recycled for industrial use."
Agree with you re: government, but maybe Detroit is a special case:
"This piece also highlights the absolutely crucial advantage of Detroit. It’s possible to do things there. In Detroit, the incapacity of the government is actually an advantage in many cases." (From the New Geography article linked to above)
What would you do with the spinach though? Presumably it couldn't be eaten by man or beast. Or does it convert the toxins into less harmful substances?
Oh, but it could. My assumption is that it's a near certainty that some enterprising contractor would sell this stuff as feed, regardless of the damage to animals and humans.
Even if the land itself is un-arable, one could always do raised-bed gardening with fresh topsoil.
I do wonder about the economics: many of farms that currently supply Detroit are presumably hundreds of miles away, so Detroit consumers have to pay for shipment, but they are also established businesses with economies of scale (large dairy farms without any neighbors to complain about the smell of manure, or whatever). How can urban farmers find niches where they could compete? How many Detroit residents could be put to work with this kind of project?
That's an interesting idea especially given some of the Detroit land prices that have been discussed here on HN over the last few months.
There are urban/suburban farmers who currently supply fresh crops to upscale restaurants, the same could probably be done on a local scale at lower cost given more cheap land. The smaller plots mean that farm automation is cheaper. e.g., there are scaled down farm implements (plows, disks, seeders, etc) designed to be towed by ATVs or riding mowers instead of the larger ones designed for full size tractors and they cost a fraction of the commercial varieties. Not to mention that an ecosystem around repair and small scale manufacture would rise up to support the farmers.
It's possible to grow some animals at reasonable densities with minimal pollution. Chickens come to mind: raising them doesn't require the horrific conditions of "industrial" production. Lots of people raise meat & egg chickens on pasture and the costs are low, animal welfare and food taste is demonstrably better.
I raise poultry as a hobby, and while I've considered making it break even, I've never bothered to actually run the numbers since I really don't want to turn a fun pastime into a part time job. However, my gut tells me that with low cost of real estate, proper management (software tools to help here) and relaxed zoning, it's possible to be self sufficient in the city doing small scale agriculture.
Comments
discussed article: http://www.newgeography.com/content/001171-detroit-urban-lab...
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edit: wonder what fraction of this land is contaminated by previous industrial activity? (per: http://ideas.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/plowing-detroit-in...)
Many plants like spinach leech toxins from the soil so over time the soil could heal.
I think the biggest obstacle to this sort of thing would be that it would be seen as "giving up" by the government. They have the ability to block it too because of zoning laws.
Here is a wikipedia link about land cleanup... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioremediation
From the article: "Not all contaminants, however, are easily treated by bioremediation using microorganisms. For example, heavy metals ... Phytoremediation is useful in these circumstances, because natural plants or transgenic plants are able to bioaccumulate these toxins... [heavy metals in biomass] may be further concentrated by incineration or even recycled for industrial use."
Agree with you re: government, but maybe Detroit is a special case:
"This piece also highlights the absolutely crucial advantage of Detroit. It’s possible to do things there. In Detroit, the incapacity of the government is actually an advantage in many cases." (From the New Geography article linked to above)
What would you do with the spinach though? Presumably it couldn't be eaten by man or beast. Or does it convert the toxins into less harmful substances?
Presumably it couldn't be eaten by man or beast.
Oh, but it could. My assumption is that it's a near certainty that some enterprising contractor would sell this stuff as feed, regardless of the damage to animals and humans.
Certain types of mushrooms can be used in this way as well
There's a TED Talk on that: http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_ca...
Even if the land itself is un-arable, one could always do raised-bed gardening with fresh topsoil.
I do wonder about the economics: many of farms that currently supply Detroit are presumably hundreds of miles away, so Detroit consumers have to pay for shipment, but they are also established businesses with economies of scale (large dairy farms without any neighbors to complain about the smell of manure, or whatever). How can urban farmers find niches where they could compete? How many Detroit residents could be put to work with this kind of project?
That's an interesting idea especially given some of the Detroit land prices that have been discussed here on HN over the last few months.
There are urban/suburban farmers who currently supply fresh crops to upscale restaurants, the same could probably be done on a local scale at lower cost given more cheap land. The smaller plots mean that farm automation is cheaper. e.g., there are scaled down farm implements (plows, disks, seeders, etc) designed to be towed by ATVs or riding mowers instead of the larger ones designed for full size tractors and they cost a fraction of the commercial varieties. Not to mention that an ecosystem around repair and small scale manufacture would rise up to support the farmers.
It's possible to grow some animals at reasonable densities with minimal pollution. Chickens come to mind: raising them doesn't require the horrific conditions of "industrial" production. Lots of people raise meat & egg chickens on pasture and the costs are low, animal welfare and food taste is demonstrably better.
I raise poultry as a hobby, and while I've considered making it break even, I've never bothered to actually run the numbers since I really don't want to turn a fun pastime into a part time job. However, my gut tells me that with low cost of real estate, proper management (software tools to help here) and relaxed zoning, it's possible to be self sufficient in the city doing small scale agriculture.