Representación de los tenedores de los valores

the documentary Urban Roots that I saw prior to my departure to Detroit.

This Wednesday morning, a little late, somewhat due to a flat tire on my

bike, I manage to localize the farm and the volunteers of today.

The farm started in 1997 by the friar Brother Rick who worked with the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, a human service organization that, since 1929, feed the hungry and take care of the poor. Brother Rick started farming on a small lot to connect the food that they serve with the land that the food comes from. The farm has grown since then and now consists of 20 lots divided into seven gardens within a two blocks radius from the headquarters in the Capuchin Soup Kitchen. Today it is one of the bigger farms in Detroit and Earthworks work to promote sustainable agricultural practices together with nutrition and care for the earth. They strive for peace, respect and harmony between neighbor and nature. It is a work of social justice as well as getting more connected to the food we eat. About 90% of the produce go to the kitchen but that is not enough for the about

800 meals per day that they serve, both breakfast and lunch, five days a

week. A lot of donations and sponsors help the soup kitchen survive to feed hungry Detroiters.

Every Wednesday and Saturday they have volunteer days from 9 -12 and that’s why I am there today. I immediately got invited to help preparing the garlic to be planted. We peel the garlic from last year, prepare the soil, measure the distance between the cloves, make rows, holes and put the

cloves in the ground. The final step is to cover it with a few centimeters of

haulms. Over the garlic peeling I talk to Shane who works at Earthworks as an outreach coordinator. He is a native Detroiter and grew up just a few blocks from the farm. I ask if there are any plans to expand the farm further and he replies: “Not really. We want the participating volunteers

to be able to start their own farms and don’t be dependent on us. We want to create a market where we collaborate instead of compete.” When I tell

him about my thesis and the search for possibilities for the vacant land

EARTHWORKS

URBAN FARM

BY CAPUCHIN SOUP KITCHEN

9.

Meldrum street 0 25 50 meters NORTH community farm greenhouse berries orchard community orchard farm compost hoop house

youth farm garden honeybees

Gleener’s Food Bank

Capuchin

The Greening of Detroit’s dendroremediation site Kitchen office tool shed Soup

118

5. PROCESS: TRANSFORMING VACANT LOTS

he makes a

comment on the term vacant. “Who is the

land vacant for? We

are just referring to that since we want to build houses everywhere. That’s the norm we humans have

created. But the trees and shrubs north of this farm is a well functioning ecosystem and not vacant at all.”

There is a French film team at the farm today, one female reporter

and a cameraman try to capture the work at the farm. They are very straightforward and ask if the volunteers think that farming really is a good idea. Kelly who has been a part of the nine months training program and now have more responsibilities at the farm, replies yes, and that she wants to start her own farm in the near future. The cameraman makes her put garlic cloves on the camera lens, apparently a nice way of fading the scene. I ask Patrick, the program manager, if they get tired of all the people that want to do interviews, documentaries or take photos. “No, I

take photos all the time myself”, Patrick answers.

Right before 12 pm it is time to wrap things up. The wheelbarrows

gets filled with used tools, remaining garlic cloves and the harvest of today and the volunteers start walking the five minutes walk back to the tool

shed and Soup Kitchen to get ready for the lunch. A guy spontaneously starts singing and clapping his hands: “It’s time to circle up… Clap clap… Time to circle up.” A circle start to take shape on the parking lot with the volunteers of today, dancing and clapping. Standing in the circle we share what we have done during the day; harvesting sweet potatoes, potatoes, green beans and garlic planting. Kelly reads a text that she wrote about the right to healthy food, otherwise it is quite silent in the circle today. Perhaps because of the cameraman that is bumping in to us while getting the perfect shot.

When I leave after the lunch consisting of a white bean soup, a tomato salad, sandwich, crackers and cookies together with a glass of

milk, I see two guys fixing their bikes on the parking lot. It turns out

that they have a bike repairing shop in a container there on Wednesday

afternoons and they happily help me get my tire fixed so I can bike the approximately five kilometers back to the house where I live.

WE TRY TO