Prospects for an Enduring Agriculture in the Rustbelt: A Tale of Two Cities

Detroit and Cleveland both have a vibrant agriculture that is supported by municipal policies and philanthropic resources; both also have abundant vacant land in public ownership. Despite these shared traits, the two cities differ in important ways in the ways in which agriculture is organized—whether it takes the form of community gardens managed by neighborhood groups or larger farms run by nonprofits or market operations—and raises questions about why this is the case and if these differences have implications for agriculture’s long term prospects. The chapter discusses specific governance arrangements in recent history in each city, approaches to vacant land and land use, and the relationships between growers and neighborhood and public institutions, and traces their implications for agriculture’s organization, purposes, and long term prospects there. It also outlines possible lessons from each city to the other.