What Detroit Really Needs...

With all the bad press Detroit constantly gets, isn’t it about time Detroit got it’s on PR manager? I mean, it makes sense if you think about. Every time there is some crazy corporate disaster, there is always a Public Relations professional there to soften the blow to corporate pockets. Why can’t a city have the same attitude? Instead, all I see are the ignorant rants of various people in and out of office in Detroit and an obviously corrupt system with people like Kwame (Ya’ll voted him in twice!?) that effectively make Detroit seem more like a circus than a nice place to visit. Or TV shows like “Detroit 187” which is still the cheesiest urban police drama I’ve ever seen on TV. ..I’m talking KRAFT macaroni cheesy. Yes, indeed we need PR!

With good PR, the city can make its positives better known and hopefully drum up some much needed revenue. Instead of the foolishness we get bombarded with on the nightly news, there could be a story about local artist that are creating beautiful tributes to the city. For instance, film maker Malcom Johnson is doing a movie “Dear Detroit: A Love Letter “which is centered on a strong love for the city of Detroit, but I haven’t heard of that anywhere on the news. Or how about “Detroit Snob” a line of T-shirts designed by Detroiters and has turned into a lucrative business for the female founder. One of the biggest problems in Detroit, is that there aren’t enough people speaking about the good things that are happening everyday; isn’t that the job of a public relations professional? Isn’t it about time we began uplifting our city to the world instead of allowing it to be torn down? Be your own Public Relations professional today and tell me about the good things you see in the city at sowdetroit/facebook.com Like my page while you’re there!
Want to know more about "Detroit Snob" and "Dear Detroit: A Love Letter" visit them online!

Can you Afford Organic Food?

It may seem odd to knock Whole Foods with a new location being built in Downtown Detroit, but if you’ve ever been to a higher end grocery store that carries organic foods, you know how expensive it can be to purchase organic foods. But why, are organic fresh foods only for the rich? Greg Willerer of Brother Nature Produce believes organic foods should be an option for everybody.

Greg and his wife Olivia make up the brains of one of Detroit’s best Urban Farms. I had the pleasure of meeting both and with Greg’s “just do it” attitude and Olivia’s Horticulture degree from MSU (Go Green), they’ve created a thriving farm that specializes mostly in salad greens. Not the boring Iceberg and Romaine salad greens either. Brother Nature Produce is reinventing the salad while inspiring local Michigan restaurants to move towards more seasonal menus based on the seasonal produce being grown right in the city. The people of Brother Nature Produce do all this while staying true to their mission to “grow organic food without the organic price”, thus keeping “organic” accessible to everyone.

Interesting Insights Into Brother Nature Produce

1. I got there at around 6:30pm and worked until 8…everyone else had been working since 7AM and didn’t stop until around 9PM (That’s some dedication)
2. Among the salad greens I have never heard of such as Purple Bok Choy and Bordeaux Spinach; Sorrel has the most surprisingly lemony flavor that is becoming my favorite salad green.
3. Greg makes his own salad dressing which is AMAZINGLY delicious
4. It took 5-6 years for the farm to build by hand. Greg’s hands to be exact as he made several trips to the farm with bags of soil to build up the soil line. “Just do it!”
5. Detroit Dirt is part of Greg’s vision which will “teach other people to fish” by making their wonderfully organic and effective soil mix available for purchase.

Want to learn more? Contact Greg at gweg27@gmail.com or pay him a visit Saturday mornings at the Eastern Market. Pick up some reinvented salad greens while you're at it!

Organic, Tasty, Healthy and Grown in Detroit

Detroit once was one of the largest, most prosperous cities in the United States, but when its main source of economic growth stumbled, Detroit fell with it.  Since then, the city has gone though riots, drugs, “white flight” and government corruption has lead the city into what seems to be a perpetual downward spiral, but the community is responding with hope.  In the city that just refuses to die, many people are rooting themselves and looking to the future.

Urban planting projects are springing up all over the city and the idea is growing.  In the part of Detroit known as a “Food Desert”, there are no grocery stores.  Starting farms seemed like the logical thing to do.  People are hungry and there are ARCES of unused land in the city.  So, they began to grow.  Today, the urban farms have grown from just feeding the community to SUSTAINING it with a regular source of income. 

Produce from Detroit urban farms can now be found all over the city.  There is a “Grown in Detroit” section at the Eastern Market, various local restaurants use produce from urban gardens or, you can just visit the farms yourself and purchase foods.  The people that run these gardens would call them Detroit’s future, but the city is still pushing for more development. 

In addition to the dozens of commercial property “for sale”, the city has written no laws to protect and grown urban farms, on the contrary the law directly hinders them.   There are limits on the sizes of greenhouses, they don’t actually own the land and if the city wants to, they can take the land back at any time. …sounds stupid to me too.   It would be simple to give the farmers land, let them tend it and eat the produce they harvest.  After all, the farmers most often are Detroiters seeking some peace in a restless city. 

Since the movie “Grown in Detroit” was created, MSU (Go green!) has proposed a potential 100 acre, $100 million investment into urban gardening research in Detroit.  This research facility would put Detroit back on the map as a center for worldwide urban gardening research.  Currently they are looking for areas on the Lower Eastside that would be suitable for urban farms and gardens. 

I don’t know if farming will be Detroit’s future, but it does make sense.  Maybe not as a major economic business, but farming within Michigan makes perfect sense to me.  The people are hungry.  Why not give them an opportunity to grow food and feed themselves?  In addition to being able to feed their own hunger, they can sell the food and make MONEY to sustain themselves long term.  Also, the benefits to a generation that has grown up on McDonald’s are too numerous to count.  Community, health, knowledge, economic….the reasons for urban farming seem never ending and I for one can vouch that a Meijer tomato taste NOTHING like homegrown.  Yup! Detroit is serving up organic, fresh and healthy produce right from its own backyard. Visit facebook.sowdetroit.com for more information.

GLAD Helps Feed 375 In Detroit

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post titled "How Glad ForceFlex Garbage Bags Saved The World". After writing the post, I added a link to GLAD's Facebook Fan Page and asked a simple question. "Is there anyone I can speak to about possible donations?" A few days later, I was asked to provide a mailing address. I did as instructed expecting to get a letter in the mail explaining donation procedures, but instead I found 750 GLAD ForceFlex trash bags on my front porch! These bags will help feed 375 people in the city of Detroit. So, on behalf of Twelfth Street Food Pantry...

  THANK YOU GLAD FOR THE DONATION!!!

URGENT: HELP NEEDED!!

Detroit is one of the hardest hit cities in the country by the recession.  We have thousands of people hungry, unemployed, under educated and generally under serviced, but where are the thousands flocking to help?  In 2012 Detroit, there are many non-profit organizations that will help you, but who’s helping them.  We need volunteers!  Detroit ranks number 32 out of 51 of America’s largest cities when it comes to advertising.  So how can we move to the top 10?  

As some of you may remember, volunteer work is required to fulfill most college requirements.  I can remember my psychology class as being the first time I volunteered.  That experience followed me into adulthood where I eventually grew to love a “job” that helped people.  I fell in love with the act of helping people for free during my college years, but what if you didn’t go to college? 

Not surprisingly, “individuals with higher levels of educational attainment engaged in volunteer activities at higher rates than did those with less education.”  That’s straight from the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s mouth.  When we look at numbers, the statistics are enlightening, to say the least.  For people aged 25 and older, 42.4% with a college education volunteer, compared to 18.2 with a High School Education.  That means twice as many college graduates are volunteering in a city with a 59.74% HIGH SCHOOL graduation rate. Yup, statistically, that equals a lot of people that DON’T volunteer, but why?  Just because you don’t have a college degree doesn’t mean you don’t care about your city right?

I’ve asked several people why they don’t volunteer and the same seems to be the same across all demographics, “because they don’t pay”.  Sigh...  No, volunteering does not pay you in the form of a check, but you get REAL experience that can lead to more money.  For instance, I volunteer (for free) for a non-profit in the area.  I am doing all their marketing (for free) and gaining more experience and know how than any school could teach me (for free).  In addition to the real world experience I am gaining, they don’t pay me so they work around MY schedule.  That’s right boys and girls I get to work my full time job and move towards my career goals AT THE SAME TIME.  How many organizations will let you choose your schedule while you use them to learn? 

Another benefit, it reduces cost and helps people.  Non-profits are usually not exactly rolling in the dough, so when they cut cost they are able to help more people.  The satisfaction of knowing you made a person’s day should be enough, but if not there are numerous benefits to volunteering.  I’ve named a few in this blog.  The trick is to gain as much from your volunteer work as the people you help. If more education is given relating to the benefits of volunteering, maybe we can get more volunteers.  Food for thought.

How would you educate people and get more volunteers for Detroit?  Leave a comment below. 

Find More Information Below:

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Detroit Free Press

How Glad ForceFlex Garbage Bags Saved The World

FlexForce Bags Filled With Food

Sometimes, my mother can be very ambiguous in her descriptions.  She’ll say things like “Paint it a colorful color” while helping me pick out paint, or “Just take a little sugar and some butter…” when making cookies, or “The pantry gives out bags of food.”   In my mind’s eye I pictured a brown grocery bag filled to the top with canned goods and microwaveable meals.  I never expected to walk in and see boxes and boxes of 120 count GLAD ForceFlex 18 gallon garbage bags filled with nutritious fresh foods.  Who would’ve known? GLAD is helping to save the world one bag at a time.  Well maybe not the whole world, but at least Detroit is getting some support from the red and white clad hero.

They Come For The Food

Three hundred fifty six 18 gallon bags were individually filled with foods such as fresh chicken, yogurt, bread and cereal and then lovingly passed out to the community with a smile.  My task was simple; I divided the life saving bags and doubled them up to make sure they wouldn’t burst when filled with two weeks of food for a family a four.   Once the bags were filled, other volunteers brought them to the front of the pantry to be handed out.  As I looked at all the food being packaged into each bag, I couldn't help but think of the number of broken bags BGE (Before GLAD Era).  With 18,000 – 24,000 people being serviced in the community every year, I thought “where would Batman be without Robin?"   Today, the pantry has plans to expand its service area once again in order to feed even more people and ForceFlex has agreed to come with the pantry.  Like any real hero, the bags plan to assist its faithful sidekick every step of the way, even if the Twelfth Street Food Pantry outshines the superhuman powers of GLAD’s ForceFlex 18 gallon garbage bags. 

If you want to help, we need donations and volunteers! Please E-mail Marjo at info@willworkfor-experience.com for information.

So Detroit, what seeds have you planted today? Sow Detroit.
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Why Would Anyone Save Detroit?

It is certainly well known that Detroit is a city close to destruction and most people don’t seem to care.  With one of the lowest employment rates and highest crime rates in the country, most would prefer to forget about Detroit and focus on the “solvable” problems of the country; saving Detroit, would be a waste of time, money, resources and human capital, so why do it?  I have asked myself that same question time and time again. 

When I graduated from college, I got a good job, made good money and moved to a suburb of Detroit and away from any knowledge of Detroit’s problems.  Sure, I still visited from time to time, but I was cozy in my own little world and “Detroit” remained to me, as it was when I was a child.  I suppose you could call me sheltered, but it was more like an unintentional safety zone that I never left.  All I had seen of the city was my engineering parents and the comfort Ford Motor had afforded my family my whole life.  Then the recession hit and Ford stopped giving money to A LOT of families.  Without a bag of “o-positive government bailout,” my STATE was going to slowly bleed to death.   The local media ran stories, the national media started conversations and the country watched as a city built on the auto industry, nicked a major artery and began the cold descent to death.  The city was hemorrhaging and my little suburban world began to get REALLY uncomfortable.  I couldn’t find the type of job I had always dreamed of, crime was spreading everywhere and streets were flooded with people who had gotten kicked in the teeth by the recession.  I began planning to leave the state because if Detroit goes the state goes and why would anyone want to save Detroit?

It was a stupid question and I was hit with images of what Detroit used to mean to me.  Kite flying on Belle Isle with my Dad, family trips to apple ciders; even the time a scarecrow (my neighbor) scared the crap out of me while trick or treating; Detroit is my home.  Michigan is my home and there is no way Michigan can be the same if it loses its largest city.  Can you name a state that’s doing well despite the crumbling of its major city?  I didn’t want to leave and if I want to be successful in Michigan, I’d have to be a part of Detroit’s success.  Apparently, I wasn’t the only person that felt that way. 

Since the recession, Detroiters have stood together to help feed their neighbors, protect their streets and pray so hard to God I’m surprised it hasn’t caused the second coming.   I’ve never seen so many people in my city actively working towards a sustainable change.  The PEOPLE of Detroit have brought art, technology, business, entertainment, education and countless other beautiful things into the heart of the city and it’s only getting better.  When you watch your neighbors literally put their blood, sweat and tears into rebuilding a forgotten city, the question changes.  Why not save Detroit?  Obviously someone thinks the city is worth saving and we aren’t stopping until we get the job done!