John Hantz, Urban Farming Champion and Pioneer, Discusses Detroit’s Urban Agriculture Potential
Detroit is home to more than 200,000 vacant parcels of land; that’s about 30,000 acres. Yes, thirty THOUSAND. On Thursday, May 27th, entrepreneur John Hantz joined us for a discussion about utilizing this abundance of vacant land for urban agriculture. As the champion of the Detroit’s urban farming movement, John sees this vast amount of open land as an ideal laboratory for agricultural collaboration.
Driven by a desire to maintain his 20-year residency in the city limits, John’s hope is to not only strengthen the community, but also to preserve his home and neighborhood. Over the years, John kept hoping things would get better, but continued to see very little improvement. Recognizing that without scarcity everyone will continue to pull back until the bottom is reached, John realized that not only could he help create scarcity, but also by solving one issue, many other issues would also be resolved. Immediately the idea of urban farming peaked his interest.
Relying on Michigan’s excellent educational and agricultural resources, in particular Rick Foster at the Kellogg Foundation and Dean Keller at Michigan State University’s School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, John delved into a new realm of business for Detroit. And, for John, his new education has proven that urban farming goes beyond corn and wheat; it includes forestry and indoor growing systems, too.
With the idea in place, John’s next step is acquiring available properties. With over 200,000 city-owned parcels that cost approximately $12,000 per year to maintain, John expected an easy sell for a bargain price, but no such luck. As a personal investor in this initiative, John continues to work with various city departments in hopes of garnering land. This summer Hantz Farms will plant its first crops on approximately 350-acres. The more acreage he can acquire, the more John believes that Detroit will become a role-model for the urban farming movement with various demonstration sites popping up across the city. John sees Detroit on the verge of a tipping point, “Let’s stop waiting for the perfect idea. Let’s get started!”