Since 1889, the Detroit Eastern Farmer’s Market has been a municipally-owned center for the sale of farm produce, including wholesale and retail. The market was, and still is, a way for urban consumers to purchase goods directly from farm growers. Within the structure of the market, there are both formal and informal organizations. Formally, it is administered by the Bureau of Markets, which...
Detroit in the 1970s was undergoing trials and tribulations stemming from a variety of issues. Crime was at an all time high, the economy was in decline, and race relations of the city were in shambles. These issues were directly related to the changing demographics of the city. According to a map produced as part of a teacher training project for Detroit public schools, much of the city was geographically...
My grandfather, Vincent Adamo, and him family emigrated to Detroit, MI from Sicily when he was eight years old. The year was 1929. He recieved his first paying job at age fifteen, working at a restauraunt at the Eastern Market. He arrived at four a.m. every morning that summer and marveled at the farmers who would come from far and wide to peddle their eggs, fruit, veggies and most of all, fresh cut...
The article “Ghetto Farmer Gets Land” published n 1975 by the Chicago Defender gives the details of Detroit Mayor Coleman Young’s announcement of his “Farm A Lot” program. Young hoped to turn 3,000 empty lots, which he described as “eyesores,” into green gardens. He explained under this new program citizens could grow vegetables and flowers simply by telephoning city hall so officials...
In the early 1970s, representatives of the United Automobile Workers' union presented a picture of deprivation to the City of Detroit. The influential Motor City workers union had created a map which literally illustrated the isolation of urban residents; isolation from any large city-facilitated parks. For residents of the City of Detroit, there are no parks or open spaces within a 30 minute drive...
The journey north along Mt. Elliott St. in Northeast Detroit depicts somber remnants of a thriving past. It takes you along a desolate street with few stores; the only buildings are small warehouses, repair shops, junkyards, and a few small parts stores. Traveling along the corridor, empty lots and abandoned buildings line the streets, remnants of a once-bustling business district. Many of the...
In 2002, senior program mangers Susan Stellar and Moniqua Dent reflected on the legacy and future of Coleman Young’s “Farm-A-Lot” program, which he established in 1974 (for details on the specifics of the program see “Coleman’s Influence on Urban Farming in Detroit”). Both Stellar and Dent believed the program served as a means for communities to become self-reliant. While they had...
In 1999, Detroit activist Harry Gardner wrote in the Michigan Citizen to applaud Detroit activist Grace Lee Boggs’ embrace of John Dewey’s educational philosophy. Drawing on Dewey's experiential learning philosophy, Boggs argued that students can effectively learn from being involved with local community-building projects. Gardner, likewise, declared he believed “there is no better time achieve...
There is a startling contrast between the city of Detroit and its neighboring suburb of Grosse Pointe. You start in Detroit being surrounded by poverty and then suddenly, as you drive north to Grosse Pointe, you have the opposite side of the spectrum. It is extremely well-off, with mansions and perfectly manicured lawns. You go from one extreme to the other in a matter of minutes. While some blame...
In 1975, Lucille Smith and Marguerite R. Kelly, a Health Specialist and an Community Services Specialist at the Detroit Urban League, set out on a mission to educate pre-school students and their parents about the importance of nutrition. Inspired by the possibility of improving dietary habits for not only the children, but also the parents and school administrators, Smith and Kelly planned activities...