Could Detroit Feed Itself?

Some 80 percent of Detroit residents are presently purchasing their groceries at convenience stores and gas stations. That could soon change; the city's plan to demolish thousands of homes and concentrate the population in viable neighborhoods will leave vast open areas suitable for cultivation. Mark Dowie, author of Losing Ground: American Environmentalism at the Close of the Twentieth Century, suggests that Detroit could actually become a highly sustainable city if this asset were used.

"Were I an aspiring farmer in search of fertile land to buy and plow, I would seriously consider moving to Detroit. There is open land, fertile soil, ample water, willing labor, and a desperate demand for decent food. And there is plenty of community will behind the idea of turning the capital of American industry into an agrarian paradise. In fact, of all the cities in the world, Detroit may be best positioned to become the world's first one hundred percent food self-sufficient city.

An American Institute of Architects panel concludes that all Detroit's residents could fit comfortably in fifty square miles of land. Much of the remaining ninety square miles could be farmed. Were that to happen, and a substantial investment was made in greenhouses, vertical farms, and aquaponic systems, Detroit could be producing protein and fibre 365 days a year and soon become the first and only city in the world to produce close to 100 percent of its food supply within its city limits."