The Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN) is an urban, community-oriented, predominantly black, grassroots food justice group. The organization was initiated by a communal desire to start an organic garden collective, and has grown from its founding in 2006 with over 50 Detroit residents as members.Pothukuchi, K. (2015). Five Decades of Community Food Planning in Detroit: City and Grassroots, Growth and Equity. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 35(4), 419-434. doi:10.1177/0739456x15586630 In an effort to combat food insecurity and increase food sovereignty, DBCFSN established a community accessible food farm in 2008, known as D-Town Farm, which grows over 30 types of fruits and vegetables on seven acres of land.Guzman, M. (2016, March 20). Black Farmers in Detroit Are Growing Their Own Food. But They're Having Trouble Owning the Land. Retrieved February 18, 2018, from https://theworld.org/stories/2016/03/29/detroit-african-american-farmers-are-growing-their-own-food-heres-why-they-areWhite, M. M. (2010). Shouldering Responsibility for the Delivery of Human Rights: A Case Study of the D-Town Farmers of Detroit. Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts 3(2), 189-211. Indiana University Press. Retrieved March 4, 2018, from Project MUSE database
The goal of the organization is to increase food security and sovereignty within Detroit's black population. It formulates efforts to provide communal access to spaces where food is healthy, available, and affordable. DBCFSN uses community activism, alliance building and educational programs to highlight various structures which perpetuate the inequality of black communities in present-day Detroit.Agyeman, J., & McEntee, J. (2014). Moving the Field of Food Justice Forward Through the Lens of Urban Political Ecology. Geography Compass,8(3), 211-220. doi:10.1111/gec3.12122 Currently, DBCFSN is working to establish the Detroit People's Food Cooperative, with the goal of opening by mid-to-late 2019.
History Pretext for founding Following the 1950s city demolition of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley for highway construction, the residents of Detroit increased the presence of the Black Power Movement, and the Civil Rights Movement, throughout the 1960s. By 1967, Pastor Albert Cleage, founder of the Central United Church of Christ, later named the Shrines of the Black Madonna of the Pan-African Orthodox Christian Church, founded the Black Star Market, the first black communal cooperative business. The co-op closed within two years, but started forming the framework for much of DBCFSN's work. Mayor Coleman Young of Detroit developed and implemented the Farm-A-Lot program in 1975 to encourage urban agriculture in the city, but the impact of this effort faded at the turn of the century.
Outside and foreign investors, white flight, and the collapse of the automobile industry have made it difficult for local Detroit residents to own land, a reflection of the trend since 1910 of African American land ownership.White, M. M. (2011). Sisters of the Soil: Urban Gardening as Resistance in Detroit. Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts, 5(1), 13-28. doi:10.2979/racethmulglocon.5.1.13 The 1980s of Detroit maintained a trend of supermarket closures, with Farmer Jack, the last chain grocery store in Detroit in 2007.White, M. M. (2011). Environmental Reviews & Case Studies: D-Town Farm: African American Resistance to Food Insecurity and the Transformation of Detroit. Environmental Practice, 13(4), 406-417. doi:10.1017/s1466046611000408 Years before the United States 2008 financial crisis, Detroit entered a recession. After the country-wide recession struck, Detroit's depression worsened, which resulted in increases in unemployment, crime, and poverty levels.
One third of Detroit residents do not own automobiles and many passengers of public transportation wait an hour at bus stops.G. (n.d.). Car Ownership in U.S. Cities Data and Map. Retrieved from http://www.governing.com/gov-data/car-ownership-numbers-of-vehicles-by-city-map.htmlFelton, R. (2014, March 11). How Detroit ended up with the worst public transit. Retrieved from https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/how-detroit-ended-up-with-the-worst-public-transit/Content?oid=2143889 The low economic status of the city is illustrated by the following statistics: 30% of Detroit's residents remain unemployed, and 36% live in poverty.U. (n.d.). U.S. Census Bureau (QuickFacts): Detroit City, Michigan. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/detroitcitymichigan/PST045216 Additionally, the Food Access Research Atlas (FARA) has designated Detroit as a low income and low food access region. Classified as a food desert, 80% of Detroit residents rely on "fringe food" provided by fast food chains, liquor stores, and corner stores. To address food insecurity, the city of Detroit has launched the Detroit Agricultural Network (DAN) in 1997, and the Garden Resource Program in 2004, later named Keep Detroit Growing in 2013. The Detroit Food and Fitness Collaborative is an overarching group of 40 organizations, including Keep Growing Detroit and the Detroit Food Justice Task Force. The organizations work to ensure that children and families have access to healthy, locally-grown food, and they work to promote healthier life styles. The city is also one of nine communities across the country to receive assistance from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in efforts to promote community involvement and growth in ensuring lifestyles of health and fitness. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation promotes the idea that all children should have equal opportunity to live and thrive, focusing on communities where children and families are vulnerable. Communities within Detroit utilize these efforts along with several other organizations to address the growing issue of poverty, and to spread awareness of the impacts that these social issues can pose.
Founding In 2000, Malik Yakini, principal of Nsoroma Institute Public School Academy charter school, worked with staff, parents and supporters (including Anan Lololi of the Afr-Can FoodBasket from Toronto) to implement organic gardening and to develop a food security curriculum.Wallace, H. (2016, March 28). Malik Yakini of Detroit's Black Community Food Security Network. Retrieved March 27, 2018, from https://civileats.com/2011/12/19/tft-interview-malik-yakini-of-detroits-black-community-food-security-network/ The garden grew to form the Shamba Organic Garden Collective (SOGC), where faculty and parents plotted and maintained 20 gardens in backyards and vacant lots. "Groundbreakers" took on the role of tilling gardens for community members who were unable to do so. The founding meeting of DBCFSN occurred in 2006 when Yakini assembled a group of 40 community members strongly connected to food at the Black Star Community Bookstore. This would have not been possible without the organizations effect in influencing public policy. People such as JoAnne Watson and council man Kwame Kenyatta were crucial characters in connecting this cause to the people within the Detroit City Council who eventually approved the food security policy. The specific policy in which DBCFSN is particularly concerned is "the Right to Farm act." This states no higher power has authority to create laws and regulate agriculture in their area. This is an important case for DBCFS because they need to refrain from breaking any laws and regulations while carrying out the mission to develop healthy urban agricultural systems.
The group discussed the need for black community involvement in urban agriculture, as well as food justice, security and sovereignty. The newfound Detroit Black Community Food Security Network began gardening on a quarter-acre plot of land in Detroit's east side, quickly moving to a half-acre plot in Detroit's westside. In 2008, DBCFSN secured a long-term lease on seven acres of property in Rouge Park, establishing D-Town Farm as the city's largest community run farm. Currently, DBCFSN operates the D-Town Farm, The Food Warriors Youth Development Program (under the leadership of Education and Outreach Director Hanifa Adjuman) and is opening the Detroit People's Food Cooperative in 2019.
Structure Detroit Black Community Food Security Network has more than 70 members, of which 80% are women, including individuals, seven families, and one organization. The D-Town Farm maintains one full-time employee, five part‐time farmers, and around ten internships annually.Richtr, J., & Potteiger, M. (n.d.). Farming as a Tool of urban rebirth? Urban agriculture in Detroit 2015: A Case Study. 7th International Aesop Sustainable Food Planning Conference Proceedings (pp. 463-477)Richtr, J., & Potteiger, M. (n.d.). Farming as a Tool of urban rebirth? Urban agriculture in Detroit 2015: A Case Study. 7th International Aesop Sustainable Food Planning Conference Proceedings (pp. 463-477). Many of the members are lifelong "Detroiters". Members of DBCFSN generally identify with Black Nationalism and political analysis from the Black Power Movement, and have been engaged with community involvement in prior experiences.
Framework DBCFSN extends the legacy of the Black Freedom Movement, attributing foundational ideas to those of Ida B. Wells, Malcolm X, Fannie Lou Hamer, Rev. Albert B. Cleage and others .Fernandez, M., Goodall, K., Olson, M., & Mendez, E. (2012). Agroecology and Alternative Agri-food Movements in the United States: Towards a Sustainable Agri-food System. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 37(1), 115-126 doi:10.1080/10440046.2012.735633Guzman, M. (2016, March 20). Black Farmers in Detroit Are Growing Their Own Food. But They're Having Trouble Owning the Land. Retrieved February 18, 2018, from their- own-food-theyre-having-trouble-owning
DBCFSN aims to transform the city of Detroit by encouraging African Americans to take control of their food system. DBCFSN models community and self-determination, and they direct youth into food related fields.Thibert, J. (2012). Making Local Planning Work for Urban Agriculture in the North American Context. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 32(3), 349-357. doi:10.1177/0739456x11431692 They maintain a policy framework that aims to eliminate barriers preventing African-American land ownership, and redistribute wealth through co-operative communal ownershipHolt-Giménez, E., & Wang, Y. (2011). Reform or Transformation? The Pivotal Role of Food Justice in the U.S. Food Movement. Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts, 5(1), 83-102. doi:10.2979/racethmulglocon.5.1.83
Land ownership
2006-2008 Upon their formation, DBCFSN acquired use of a quarter-acre plot of land near the 4-H Club on McClellan in the Eastside of Detroit in 2006, and the land was purchased by a developer in the fall of that year. In June 2007, the organization acquired use of a half-acre plot of land owned by the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church.
2008: $1 lease After 2 years of planning and meetings with the Detroit City Council and the City Planning and Recreation Department, DBCFSN acquired a temporary 10-year license agreement to use a designated two-acre site in the City of Detroit's Meyers' Tree Nursery in Rouge Park for $1 annually.Gabriel, L. (2012). The Good Food Cure. YES! Magazine, (63), 27-29Guzman, M. (2016, March 20). Black Farmers in Detroit Are Growing Their Own Food. But They're Having Trouble Owning the Land. Retrieved February 18, 2018, from their-own-food-theyre-having-trouble-owning In 2010, the site expanded from two to seven acres, becoming the permanent placement for the D-Town Farm. The lease expires in 2018.
Funding