April 2017 | Business View Magazine

22 23 april/may 2017 Executive View Written by Lorie Steiner L ife in the ‘hood is chang- ing for the good. Cities throughout North Amer- ica are embracing the emerging agricultural neighborhood– agrihood–mod- el as a residential development strategy. Currently, about 200 such sites across the US incorporate the working farm as a centerpiece for mixed residential land use. But, the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (MUFI) is taking it one giant step further: transforming 2 square blocks in northern Detroit from a food desert into America’s First Sustainable Urban Agrihood. The Michigan Urban Farming Ini- tiative is a non-profit, 100 percent volunteer-run organization that seeks to engage members of the Michigan community in sustain- able agriculture. Tyson Gersh, MUFI co-founder and president, says, “It’s about reimagining life in the ur- ban environment. There is a major trend away from homogenized de- velopment – transitioning from two America’s First Sustainable Urban Agrihood: detroit Farming Initiative leads the way