Comments on: The Royal Oak Community Farm Model- A Good Idea?

By: admin

admin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:03:42 +0000

Hi Mike,

I agree. It does not feel right to me to accept donations for a for-profit company as well as volunteer help under the magical words “school” and “community” with no certain understanding of how the elements involved will be profiting.

I added your website as a link on our site. I am all for supporting locally owned, for profit farming companies.

It is not the ‘government’ per say – but any body of individuals removed from the direct consequences of their decisions – let alone those said people under the influence of other bodies of individuals comprising corporations leveraging said people’s actions with bribery.

Truth be told, bribery is part of being human and we all do it one way or another – so I don’t blame them for that – I just would like to help them understand they can still bribe, and profit while at the same time allowing people to be healthy and free. There must be a way for this given we have the Infinite Possibility at our constant disposal. Pardon me if I have floated off topic a little.

By: Mike Berschback

Mike Berschback — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 02:30:56 +0000

As someone who is trying to do something similar on the East side I think the project
has good intentions but bringing the school system into the fold may be a negative.
While farming is a passion of ours at Michigan Micro-Farms we are strictly a
for-profit business and something about getting donations then making a profit that
goes into the school system just seems off. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for
furthering education in the field of agriculture but I’d like to be assured that all of the
profits are directed only to the program and everyone is made aware of that. I’m
sure that I’m not alone in the belief that as soon as the government steps in…

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:41:33 +0000

Check out this interesting response made to this post here -
http://transitionmichigan.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-royal-oak-community-farm?commentId=2503587%3AComment%3A11161&xg_source=msg_com_blogpost

By: admin

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:58:28 +0000

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the interesting link.

I am not sure about the Hantz thing. I do not know the details of that

and I am interested to find out. Thanks for the punkperma link – that is a great site.

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:09:12 +0000

Michael, I’m right there with you.

Local food, sustainability, green, etc. are all hot buzzwords and we’re seeing a bit of the effects when they are expressed in an improper context. Another example is the millionaire John Hantz trying to jump into urban farming in Detroit. It all starts with good intentions but as the saying goes “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. It seems the underlying issue of which all these scenarios are just symptoms, is a critical lack of comprehension of farming and natural systems and cycles. Without the proper support structure, especially in this case of a public school setting, things may not work out too sustainably if they’re in it for their gain. And like you mention, when an individual is profiting, you can approach them, it becomes more tangible for those effected.

I think you;d appreciate a side shoot to this discussion here: http://punkrockpermaculture.com/2010/01/11/can-permaculture-save-detroit/

I also agree that local food growing anywhere is a good thing and that the whole community involved in these endeavors should be open to feedback of all sorts. It’s how we grow too.