Urban farming and soil contamination in Detroit

Detroit farmers

A friend sent me this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7495717.stm

It paints a broad and very positive picture of how abandoned urban landscapes can be transformed into productive urban farms.  Imagine a city where unused lots and parking lots become lush gardens!  I’ve been told that a good couple of acres in downtown Detroit sells for just $500… ca fait rever.

On the flipside, which the BBC article doesn’t consider, is that the soils in Detroit have been largely contaminated, especially with lead (see the article at http://www.deq.state.mi.us/documents/deq-rrd-BULLETIN-DetroitGrandHavenLeadBulletin-5-11-05.pdf).  The known sources of contamination are the numerous smelter in the area and the leaded paint used on the buildings (banned since 1978).   6% of children tested have been found to have lead poisonning as levels that significantly affect cognitive functioning.  This has become an issue of environmental racism, as the high-risk groups for poisonning are identified as pregnat women, children and ethnic groups.  Why ethnic groups?  Because these low-income communities often don’t have the economic option or political literacy to fight against industrial development in their areas.

At the Oasis garden, we’ve learnt that the soil of our lower garden are heavily contaminated with lead.  We are considering importing soil and building up several raised beds, deep enough to avoid the contaminated soil.  We also hope to do some phytoremediation; that is to say grow plants (such as sunflowers, mustard greens or willows) that stock contamination in their leaves, and then remove the arial portion of the plant, thus removing contaminants from the soil.  It will be interesting to follow the story of Detroit in our own efforts.

This is Heather, signing off.