Keep Growing Detroit is a non-profit whose mission is to create a food sovereign city where the majority of fruits and vegetables consumed by Detroiters are grown by residents within the city’s limits. My research will be surrounding the drainage fee Detroiters have to pay. The fee is determined based on the resident’s plot of land. The city estimates how much runoff will occur when it rains and charges the residents for that. The claim KGD has is that those with urban farms/gardens should receive an exemption from this because the plants will absorb the water. I will help those at the six sites where this experiment is taking place fill out data logs. I have helped to build some of the test sites already.
My first week has been an adjustment because I am not entirely used to living in a city and don’t particularly like it. I have, however, really enjoyed all of the gardeners I have met and am enjoying developing a green thumb. Seeing empty fields be turned into gardens has been my favorite part thus far. I also am starting to be more picky about the foods I eat in terms of knowing where they came from and what kinds of practices were used in the process.
