By Mansfield Frazier
The good news is, all indicators this spring point towards a continued burgeoning of the nascent urban agriculture movement, which has been steadily gaining stream hereabouts as part of an overall greening of Greater Cleveland. Other innovative land use projects that improve the quality of life for everyone are also moving forward apace.
With my vineyard coming along nicely I’m proud to be part of that growing group of citizens throughout the region who are sincerely interested in getting closer to the soil and dirt under their fingernails as they husband the land. We’re seeing more and more healthier, locally grown food entering the marketplace, which is a great thing.
Greater Cleveland (along with Milwaukee, Chicago and Detroit) is in the forefront of the exploding national urban ag movement with more projects that heretofore were considered somewhat exotic popping up all the time: backyard beekeeping, raising chickens for eggs and consumption, as well as mushroom propagation (there even was a project that used sheep to mow grass on a lot at Quay 55) are just some of the examples.
However, there is a dark side to the progress. While most of the projects fit well into the neighborhoods in which they are located, others, for a variety of reasons, are causing some degree of consternation among residents and local officials.
Some folks are simply resistant to change and don’t care to see any urban ag projects in their communities, while others are rightfully concerned in regards to the impact some of these operations will have on property values and the quality of life. We probably need to engage in more community dialogue in order to come as closely as we can to some sort of reasoned consensus.
No one wants to be awakened by a neighbor’s rooster marking the sunrise by loudly crowing, nor do folks care for barnyard smells to begin permeating their neighborhood.
Unfortunately, a few folks in the urban ag movement are seemingly not concerned with their neighbors’ rights. They obviously feel they have the right to do whatever they want and can construct any kind of ramshackle project … no matter the negative impact on the community at-large. A middle ground has to be found.
While I’ve never visited Alaska, I have friends who’ve commented on how jerry-rigged and downright ugly some of the housing stock is. This is due to an almost complete lack of building codes or oversight in the state. Residents with pioneering spirits often don’t want the “gub-ment” telling them how they should live their lives, so, in many cases, they do whatever they damn well please with their property.
I’ve personally experienced a similar phenomenon. After building our vineyard back in 2010, I was asked by some young urban pioneers to assist them in establishing a couple of rows of grapes on a site they were developing off of E. 55th St. However, in the end they totally ignored my advice, eschewed all standards and established agricultural techniques … and then totally abandoned the project in less than a year. And it’s certainly not the only abandoned urban ag project I know of around town.
Perhaps it’s time for urban farmers to come together and form a grassroots organization that has the goal of advancing our agenda. Maybe if we police ourselves, establish acceptable standards (such as fencing in certain types of operations and maintaining an orderly cleanliness in others) we can put to rest the legitimate concerns of our neighbors — probably not all of them, but at least the reasonable ones — and avoid the sometimes-heavy hand of city housing inspectors. Continued progress in this field seemingly dictates that we do so sooner or later.
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So-Called “Experts”
There’s an old saying that an “expert” is someone who lives over 50 miles away, and locally, many folks in the urban ag movement buy into that notion lock, stock and barrel.
Especially among the Birkenstock-wearing crowd I think there’s a certain amount of bragging rights and pride — cachet if you will — in being able to say “We brought that wonderful builder all the way from Bumfuck, Indiana, to build our hoop house!” … as if no one locally has the expertise to construct such a simple structure.
Hard work goes into bringing federal funding into our area for the construction of hoop houses (which extend the growing season to year-round) and what do we do? We immediately send those dollars right back out of the local economy by sourcing the materials from someone in another county, and then bringing in someone else all the way from another state to show locals how to build them. Are we really that inept and devoid of talent?
The urban ag movement should be solving three problems, creating three bottom lines: Reusing vacant land, producing local food, and putting people to work in the process. Just watch — next we’ll be bringing in people from adjoining counties to do the work as our residents continue to sit idle.
Hoop houses essentially are some bent pipes, wood and plastic. Not only can local folks construct them, a facility to custom bend the pipes could easily be set up (again, using local folks). I know at least a half-dozen individuals (including myself) with the requisite skills to build such an operation and train people to run it and run it well. In that manner the unit cost per hoop house would go down … as pride in the sense of accomplishment would go up at the same instant.
The mistake people make is to judge others’ competencies based on their own lack thereof. Simply because they don’t have the know-how, talent, and grit to do a thing, they should not assume others are as inept as they happen to be. When you stop and think about it, that mindset is actually kind of insulting to local talent.
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Seed Money
At breakfast the other morning a long-time benefactor of Château Hough asked if there was something he could do to help push the urban farming agenda forward, and I suggested “seed” money. Realizing that Mother Nature has her own clock in regards to when seeds need to get into the ground, and further realizing that some folks might not have the money available to purchase necessary supplies in time for spring planting, this generous dude (who insists that he remain anonymous) whipped out his checkbook and wrote a check to our non-profit, with the funds earmarked for folks who want to get their projects started.
Here’s how it works: There’s no application process, no paperwork to fill out, just let us know how much you need (up to $100) and where the plot of land is located, and we’ll get the money to you … with the understanding that you’ll pay it back within six months. It’s that simple.
As I told my friend, there’s no way I can assure the money won’t instead be used by someone to get a new tattoo, a set of fingernails, or a trip to Cedar Point for the kids (or if the money will ever be repaid, and, knowing human nature, I have to assume some of it won’t be) but he was cool with that possibility. He doesn’t want this to be complicated, and we’re not going to hunt anyone down for repayment … but I might just write something real greasy about any deadbeats that don’t repay the loan. Fair enough? Call 216.469.0124, but understand the amount of money he fronted us is somewhat limited.
Also, if anyone knows of a social media whiz who is willing to intern (we don’t have any funding to pay just yet) and help us manage our Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and email lists, we can offer what we feel is a great experience. Anyone interested can call the same number.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.