O Pioneers! and Detroit Goat Farm

Today I read and discussed the same excerpt from Willa Cather's O Pioneers! about five times (the short explanation is that I'm a teacher), in which a brother who has gone off to the city to work as an engraver has returned home and is reflecting with his sister, who remained in Nebraska, working the family farm. This gave me plenty of time to let the message sink in.

The city dweller describes life as "paying exorbitant rent for a few square feet of space near the heart of things; we have no ties, we know nobody, we own nothing." The farmer replies, "We pay a high rent, too, though we pay differently. We grow hard and heavy. We don't move lightly and easily as you do, and out minds get stiff."

Both seem to envy the other's life, leading one to wonder if there's any place to live that lacks troubles. Detroit Goat Farm looks to combine the positives of community ties and owning a place of one's own to the joy of living close to the heart of a city. We hope to give people a sense of belonging while keeping their minds active, to keep their bodies strong while allowing them the opportunity to develop as a person.

Maybe there's nowhere trouble-free, but it's my hope that Detroit Goat Farm is a place where the troubles are worth having and worth learning from.

Many Ideas Generated from Successful Workshop

“Starting with community based farms could not only generate jobs in short-term and long-term progress, but it would also address the issue of how we get communities involved. We must allow communities to define their own ownership of a project.” ~ Participant, Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Leadership Conference

“If you think it’s a great idea, try to achieve it. But, you cannot do it alone. For any community initiative to be effective it must involve the current leaders of a given community. Forcing an issue as an outsider will elicit a reactionary, and assuredly negative response.” ~ Rebecca Busk, Co-Founder of Detroit Goat Farm

These quotes both came up during activities and discussion during yesterday's workshop, Detroit: A New Land of Milk and Honey. A few patterns of ideas emerged, including the one illustrated by the above statements, which is that local leadership is crucial to the success of this kind of project. Other concepts shared were:

1. People don’t need complicated vocabulary or extensive training in agriculture to be able to discuss urban farming issues with a sophisticated level of thought, if provided the right framework.

2. These programs have the potential for positive social outcomes, especially building community, which generated a level of excitement for these kinds of projects, stemming from the belief that this could be an effective method of change for the city.

3. Residents of the neighborhood can and should be involved in the decision-making process, and their well-being should be the number one priority.

We were thrilled with the quality of responses during discussion and the diversity of perspectives represented. Detroit Goat Farm hopes to offer this workshop through several other venues, including high schools, college classes, and community or faith-based groups. If you're interested in booking a workshop, contact detroitgoatfarm@gmail.com.

You're Invited . . .

. . . to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. with Detroit Goat Farm!

We'll be presenting a workshop entitled "Detroit: A New Land of Milk and Honey" at Michigan State University's MLK, Jr. Student Leadership Conference. Get more information or sign up here. The theme this year is "The Message: Our History, Our Future," which Detroit Goat Farm will be sharing through information about Detroit's history and the hope that we have for its future in community development and local food.

Possible Presentation

Detroit Goat Farm has just been offered the opportunity to apply to present at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Leadership Conference at Michigan State University. Given the wealth of racial issues in Detroit, our hope that the goat farm can be a place where people of many races come together, and our need to get the word out, this is an excellent venue for us!

We'll keep you posted if we're selected to present - we hope you'll be able to come out and see us!

Let's Talk about . . . Poop

We just got an update from our engineering team - they're looking at various methods of managing waste from the goat farm. For those of us inexperienced with farming and ranching, taking care of fecal matter and other waste isn't something we normally consider, but it's essential element of the operation.

In an urban environment, this becomes even more important than in a rural area. Smell, runoff, and space all impact more people nearby, so some traditional methods of waste management may not be an option. Currently, the engineers are considering an anaerobic digester, which may be less than ideal because of the dryness of goat manure; composting, attractive for being environmentally friendly but possibly a very long-term commitment; and a parking lot (traditional) method, which is not preferred simply because it lacks the innovation we'd hoped to see on this project. Other suggested methods are distributing the manure for fertilizer or using it to heat a hoop house (which could be used to grow crops).

Besides manure, some of our products may involve waste. Meat is a relatively simple proposition, since the goats would likely be sold to a meat processing facility, but cheese comes with a lot of liquid waste.

What kind of waste management would you like to see? Any new ideas?

Welcome!

The Detroit Goat Farm began as a kitchen table discussion between two friends. Now, it has expanded, with planning from a team of biosystems engineering students as well as assistance from students in the fields of animal science and urban planning.

The dream is to start a non-profit goat farm within Detroit city limits, using and revitalizing an area of Detroit that is currently vacant. Such a project would create agricultural education opportunities within the city, allow for research about urban ranching, generate a modest number of jobs in a city with close to 30% unemployment, and provide fresh food in a city classified as a "food desert."

This blog is to create awareness of the Detroit Goat Farm goals and update interested individuals and organizations about progress being made by the Goat Team.