On Wednesday July 1, 2010, Toledo Grows invited Mr. Malik Yakini to present on “Food Justice in an Era of Global Food Crisis at Glenwood Lutheran Church in Toledo, Ohio. Mr. Yakini is Chairman of the Detroit Food Policy Council and member of the Detroit Black Food Security Organization. Approximately 65 people attended this presentation of which there was a good mixture of older and younger generations. Malik’s presentation was using an LCD projector with computer-created PowerPoint slides.
For those of us wanting further information on this topic please visit the following websites:
Democracy Now Interview with Malik Yakini
Mr. Malik opened his presentation with a reference to the Kroger Grocery Store on Toledo’s Manhattan Blvd that was recently closed. As painful as this may have been for the residence near there, he wanted the audience to believe that Detroit, Michigan is much worse. He stated that while he was being shown the various Toledo urban agricultural projects around the area, he was impressed with the bee-keeping infrastructure, numerous greenhouses and neighborhood chicken raising areas. Yakini stated that these have proven to him that the Toledo environment is moving toward an acceptance of a movement toward the development of urban agriculture.
Malik stated that the food crisis that Toledo and Detroit are facing is a global one and that this food crisis interferes with one of the basic drives that humanity is invested with. Food is life, food defines culture, and food provides a foundation of social structure. In traditional agricultural areas of the world, Malik stated that celebrations occur around food production; great celebrations happen during the planting of the crops and at harvest time. Today, it seems we have a great capacity to grow food but the food crisis is happening now.
In the United States, 36 million people are hungry or malnourished. In Haiti, Egypt and other locations, food prices have escalated contributing to social riots and protest. Yakini referred to this situation as “the Silent Tsunami”. There are those who will prosper and “make a killing” on this world-wide food crisis. According to Grain.org, Cargill, Arthurs Daniel Midland and other for profit agriculture-related corporations have experienced increases of profits during this time. An especially concerning event that is impacting food production is the use of Genetically Modified Organism (GMO). Science has developed the technology to alter just about any cell to create new life forms and therefore becomes the owner of that life form.
Soybeans and corn DNA have been recombined to become resistant to disease, mold and insects. In the grocery stores of the United States, approximately 60 to 70% of produce contains some aspect of GMO. Lawsuits have been entered into the U.S. court system by these holders of seed patents against farmers. Designed within these GMO seeds may be a “planned sterilization” of the plant that would prevent the development of seeds and therefore requiring the farmer to continue their purchase of these seeds. Presently, the European Union has safeguards in place that mandate the labeling of GMO products as well as making sure the GMO crops are “self-terminating”. In the United States, the organic food industry is very concerned about this technology and these products as there are now safeguards. Yakini stated that this present action will lead to a control of the world’s food supply. If a small group of people control the food supply, this will lead to a control of the people - sort of an Imperialist model exerting control on the masses. Kr. Richard Strohman, PhD and Professor at the University of California cautions that there are unintended consequences to the scientific manipulation of cell biology. The question of “Who Owns Life” has been brought up in the U.S. Supreme Court and a decision handed down that it is Monsanto who does where cell DNA has been manipulated.
About Detroit – in 1950, Detroit’s population was approximately 2 million. By the year 2000, the population dropped down to 900,000. With the census now being counted, Malik expects the population of Detroit to drop far lower. Statistics have shown that between 1970 and 2000, there were 161,000 homes demolished in Detroit. Now there have been around 750,000 which points to a broken city with a broken food system.
The last grocery store in Detroit left that city in 2007 requiring inner-city residents to either travel to suburbs for their food needs or purchase from local “party-stores”; stores that sell cigarettes, liquor and other “junk food”. It was because of these realities that the Detroit Food Policy Council and the Detroit Black Food Security Network was established. Yakini was one of the organizers who coordinated efforts of local food production and marketing these goods to Detroit residence. People of Detroit are growing their own food for their own security needs, taking steps toward self-governance and community building.
The abandoned City of Detroit nursery that at one time grew trees for Detroit neighbors have been reclaimed and is now being used in localized food production for inner-city dwellers. Derelict factory fields and city vacant areas are being reclaimed and used with intensive gardening technology to provide food to citizens. The goal of Malik’s organizations is to have these urban agricultural projects become sustainable.
Malik envisions a point where all urban ag programs will sell 60% of their product to Detroit citizens for their sustenance and nutrition. He believes that by growing high quality food, 40% of his market will sell to area restaurants and grocery stores. Presently, the problems being encountered by gardeners involve pests such as the usual deer population and surprisingly the immigration of coyotes into Detroit. These downtown urban farms are turning the city into a lush and delicious landscape. Typical urban food gardens are measure approximately 70ft X as much as 565ft. There appears to be around a $40,000 per year profit from 1 acre of any garden/farm land and this can be easily achieved thru the French Intensive method of food/garden production. Additional planning involves the creation of city grower co-operatives that could take advantage of crop specializations and growing efficiencies. The successes achieved by the Detroit gardens have attracted other entrepreneurs to adopt similar ideas and goals. One such person is actively
seeking grants and other sources of government funding to do similar projects also in Detroit. According to Malik, if these community sponsored agriculture programs go the way of “Wall Street”, then it would not be sustainable.
Malik mentioned that this grass-roots community development has, at its core, agriculture and therefore is the “first economy” of society. All community based Ag projects should be a generator of service and wealth: service in the form of providing nutritious food to people at reasonable cost and wealth selling value-added products to commercial and institutional interests.
Mr. Malik opened his presentation with a reference to the Kroger Grocery Store on Toledo’s Manhattan Blvd that was recently closed. As painful as this may have been for the residence near there, he wanted the audience to believe that Detroit, Michigan is much worse. He stated that while he was being shown the various Toledo urban agricultural projects around the area, he was impressed with the bee-keeping infrastructure, numerous greenhouses and neighborhood chicken raising areas. Yakini stated that these have proven to him that the Toledo environment is moving toward an acceptance of a movement toward the development of urban agriculture.
Malik stated that the food crisis that Toledo and Detroit are facing is a global one and that this food crisis interferes with one of the basic drives that humanity is invested with. Food is life, food defines culture, and food provides a foundation of social structure. In traditional agricultural areas of the world, Malik stated that celebrations occur around food production; great celebrations happen during the planting of the crops and at harvest time. Today, it seems we have a great capacity to grow food but the food crisis is happening now.
In the United States, 36 million people are hungry or malnourished. In Haiti, Egypt and other locations, food prices have escalated contributing to social riots and protest. Yakini referred to this situation as “the Silent Tsunami”. There are those who will prosper and “make a killing” on this world-wide food crisis. According to Grain.org, Cargill, Arthurs Daniel Midland and other for profit agriculture-related corporations have experienced increases of profits during this time. An especially concerning event that is impacting food production is the use of Genetically Modified Organism (GMO). Science has developed the technology to alter just about any cell to create new life forms and therefore becomes the owner of that life form.
Soybeans and corn DNA have been recombined to become resistant to disease, mold and insects. In the grocery stores of the United States, approximately 60 to 70% of produce contains some aspect of GMO. Lawsuits have been entered into the U.S. court system by these holders of seed patents against farmers. Designed within these GMO seeds may be a “planned sterilization” of the plant that would prevent the development of seeds and therefore requiring the farmer to continue their purchase of these seeds. Presently, the European Union has safeguards in place that mandate the labeling of GMO products as well as making sure the GMO crops are “self-terminating”. In the United States, the organic food industry is very concerned about this technology and these products as there are now safeguards. Yakini stated that this present action will lead to a control of the world’s food supply. If a small group of people control the food supply, this will lead to a control of the people - sort of an Imperialist model exerting control on the masses. Kr. Richard Strohman, PhD and Professor at the University of California cautions that there are unintended consequences to the scientific manipulation of cell biology. The question of “Who Owns Life” has been brought up in the U.S. Supreme Court and a decision handed down that it is Monsanto who does where cell DNA has been manipulated.
About Detroit – in 1950, Detroit’s population was approximately 2 million. By the year 2000, the population dropped down to 900,000. With the census now being counted, Malik expects the population of Detroit to drop far lower. Statistics have shown that between 1970 and 2000, there were 161,000 homes demolished in Detroit. Now there have been around 750,000 which points to a broken city with a broken food system.
The last grocery store in Detroit left that city in 2007 requiring inner-city residents to either travel to suburbs for their food needs or purchase from local “party-stores”; stores that sell cigarettes, liquor and other “junk food”. It was because of these realities that the Detroit Food Policy Council and the Detroit Black Food Security Network was established. Yakini was one of the organizers who coordinated efforts of local food production and marketing these goods to Detroit residence. People of Detroit are growing their own food for their own security needs, taking steps toward self-governance and community building.
The abandoned City of Detroit nursery that at one time grew trees for Detroit neighbors have been reclaimed and is now being used in localized food production for inner-city dwellers. Derelict factory fields and city vacant areas are being reclaimed and used with intensive gardening technology to provide food to citizens. The goal of Malik’s organizations is to have these urban agricultural projects become sustainable.Malik envisions a point where all urban ag programs will sell 60% of their product to Detroit citizens for their sustenance and nutrition. He believes that by growing high quality food, 40% of his market will sell to area restaurants and grocery stores. Presently, the problems being encountered by gardeners involve pests such as the usual deer population and surprisingly the immigration of coyotes into Detroit. These downtown urban farms are turning the city into a lush and delicious landscape. Typical urban food gardens are measure approximately 70ft X as much as 565ft. There appears to be around a $40,000 per year profit from 1 acre of any garden/farm land and this can be easily achieved thru the French Intensive method of food/garden production. Additional planning involves the creation of city grower co-operatives that could take advantage of crop specializations and growing efficiencies. The successes achieved by the Detroit gardens have attracted other entrepreneurs to adopt similar ideas and goals. One such person is actively
seeking grants and other sources of government funding to do similar projects also in Detroit. According to Malik, if these community sponsored agriculture programs go the way of “Wall Street”, then it would not be sustainable.Malik mentioned that this grass-roots community development has, at its core, agriculture and therefore is the “first economy” of society. All community based Ag projects should be a generator of service and wealth: service in the form of providing nutritious food to people at reasonable cost and wealth selling value-added products to commercial and institutional interests.
