Creating a Food-Sovereign City in Detroit, MI 2019

BGR partner Keep Growing Detroit was established to promote a food-sovereign city, in which the majority of fruits and vegetables Detroiters consume are grown by residents within city limits. With a median household income of $27,838, nearly 38 percent of Detroit residents live below the poverty line, and 37 percent of households rely on food assistance programs to feed their families. In 2019, Keep Growing Detroit will reach and support 1,400 Detroit families to improve their health through increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Through its Garden Resource Program, founded in 2004, Keep Growing Detroit provides seeds, transplants, and resources to support approximately 25,000 residents in growing their own food gardens and securing access to fresh, low-cost vegetables. Supported by BGR, Keep Growing Detroit aims to increase the number of Detroit residents who benefit from the program through strategic engagement activities. While the ultimate goal of the project is to bring residents into the program as participants and growers, the project first intends to meet residents where they are, beginning with increasing community access to healthy food and building connections with residents through community outreach events. Project activities will therefore focus first on (1) distributing 2,000 pounds of produce from Keep Growing Detroit’s farm to food-insecure families in Detroit and (2) improving familiarity with the organization’s work through tastings at 30 community outreach events. Additionally, this project will encourage and support 400 households to build self-sufficiency by connecting them with opportunities to grow their own food as new members of the Garden Resource Program. Annually renewable project.