Detroit NUAg Conference

The Detroit National Urban Agriculture conference was a three day whirlwind of everything Urban Ag. The conference kicked off with farm tours visiting Drew Farm, Georgia Street Community Collective, Beaverland Farms, and D-Town Farms. Afterward, hundreds of people gathered at Oakland Avenue Urban Farm, run by Jerry Ann Hebron. There, attendees ate local food, visited local craft vendors, and listened to urban ag legend Malik Yakini’s band, MOLLYWOP! After being fully immersed in Detroit’s urban agriculture, the conference sessions seemed to be the cherry on top of the energy that had already been cultivated. The formal portion of the conference began with an empowering land acknowledgment, a welcome address from the project team, USDA national leaders, and a very special keynote from The Honorable Senator Debbie Stabenow. The conference continued with breakout sessions, panels, and presentations on a variety of urban agriculture topics, resources, and programs. Urban ag pioneers and community heroes, Will Allen and Malik Yakini both gave powerful keynote speeches that further elevated the frequency of empowerment through the room. Attendees were given Will Allen’s book, The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities which is a powerful story of Mr. Allen’s experience growing up in a sharecropping community, his journey to play pro basketball, then eventually becoming one of the most well-known urban producers despite the discrimination he faced.