A Jan. 29 symposium at The Henry Ford highlighted the many contributions of scientist, innovator and inspirational humanitarian George Washington Carver.
Most recognized for his scientific work with peanuts, Carver brought many revolutionary concepts to the medical, industrial and agricultural communities. Saturday's program focused closely on his educational work in farming and making healthy foods available, particularly to the poor.
Opening the symposium in the Anderson Theatre, The Henry Ford President Patricia Mooradian welcomed attendees and expressed that "Carver's accomplishments were an historical anchor" for the organic farming movement evolving today. Mooradian introduced the first keynote speaker, Dr. Walter Hill, dean of the College of Agricultural, Environmental and Natural Sciences and director of the George Washington Carver Agricultural Experiment Station at Tuskegee University.
According to Hill, Carver strove to "improve the quality of life for everyone, particularly the poor." Carver's focus was to help poor farmers learn how to enrich soil and grow their own local food, while creating a livelihood on which they could flourish.
Much of Carver's accomplishments centered around his tenure at Tuskegee University in Alabama, where he served in many agricultural and scientific capacities from 1896 until his death in 1943.
Rising from slavery to a distinguished leader, his inventions ranged from plant based fuels, to hundreds of uses for sweet potatoes, advances in peanut and soy bean alternative products and much more. Among other major inventors of his day, Carver befriended Henry Ford and was even known for influencing presidents of the United States.
Carver worked tirelessly on closing "the gap" between the scientific and technological advances and those laws and policies affecting them, Hill explained. This gap was particularly poignant in the "black belt counties" in Alabama, where black farmers were stripped of their land and sometimes their lives during the strife of slavery.
Hill illustrated that only in the past decade have black farmers begun to return to the area and even more recently have USDA guidelines and policies started to shift toward more feasible application for small farmers, allowing them a more balanced opportunity to prosper.
Another major advance was the recent investment in a new enrichment market center for farmers in the heart of the black belt counties. "This center is bringing the best to the underprivileged," Hill explained. "Its success is due to collaborative partnerships, which are moving us toward finally fulfilling Carver's vision."
Keynote speaker Will Allen, CEO of Wisconsin-based farming organization Growing Power, spoke on the concept of urban farming.
"Food is a connection between all of us," Allen contended. "It's the single most important unifying factor."
Allen explained that his company's purpose is to help people learn to grow their own food, especially in city centers and to turn the fruits of their labor into viable, sustainable businesses. It's a concept gaining popularity in Detroit as the city tries to reinvent itself, and has already caught on in cities like Chicago.
Growing Power has worked to place gardens right in city centers, including Cabrini Green in Chicago, where the organization drops its composted soil on top of pavement and begins to grow vegetables. They even look for troubled areas where drug dealers are known to gather and in one day, working with the community, build raised beds and plant flowers and vegetables right in the middle of their turf.
Allen attributes the attention that citizens pay to the new gardens and flowers as helping to drive away criminal activity. He has also created partnerships with breweries in the area to pick up their brewing waste, and works with businesses that are throwing out unused produce to add their products to his vast acreage of compost.
"The rise in urban agriculture has introduced farming to a whole group of people who have never farmed before," said Allen.
Representing local farming interests, a panel discussed how concepts like these could be applied locally.
Panelists included Dan Carmody, president of Eastern Market Corporation; Michael Score, president of Hantz Farms; Taja Sevelle, executive director and founder, Urban Farming; and Gary Wozniak, chief development officer, SHAR Foundation and RecoveryPark. The panel was moderated by Dr. Rick Foster, W.K. Kellogg chair in Sustainable Food Systems and director of MSU Extension’s Greening Michigan Institute at Michigan State University.
Panelists illustrated the importance of urban farming in Detroit, where much of the vacant property is available for growing and for providing food and jobs for those in need.
Carmody pointed out that Detroit has one of the only remaining original city center markets with Eastern Market, and it is the desire of many other cities today striving to expand urban farming and food distribution. He expressed that he believes Detroit has the second best agricultural diversity across the country, only bested by San Francisco, yet has perhaps the worst food distribution issues, without a single major grocer in the city center.
Urban farming is budding in pockets of Detroit, where hoop houses and greenhouses are beginning to speckle the landscape of previously vacant property. Small plots of land are starting to turn into gardens with community involvement and partnerships with organizations like those represented by the panelists. This is a trend that will help bring healthy, organic foods to local neighborhoods as it continues to evolve—a continuation of Carver's legacy, right here in metro Detroit.
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