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
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.