Across Detroit, it appears such activity at the university could spread and fill vacant neighborhoods, she said.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Szczepanski said. “If the land is just sitting there and not being used, why not use it?”

In a study published in the current edition of The Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, MSU academic specialist Kathryn Colasanti found the more than 4,000 acres of available land in Detroit could supply up to 75 percent of fresh vegetables and 40 percent of fruit available to residents.

Those numbers became apparent after a bulk of her master’s thesis project was complete in May 2009, she said.

Colasanti led the study for the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at MSU.
“(The project) was really meant to contribute to the conversation,” she said.

“There’s been so much talk about the urban farm — (the) urban gardening movement is exploding.”

When a combination of community gardens, hoop houses — which act as greenhouses — storage houses and urban farms are used, those percentages of produce could be obtained, Colasanti said.

During the past three years, she took part in interviews with community members and engaged in numerous focus groups citywide; agricultural activities could be another solution to the city’s vacancy, she said.

“(It’s about) how to use that vacant land,” Colasanti said. “This would be that piece of the puzzle to figure out what that (approach) is.”

Although the research did not assess economic feasibility, a typical 30-by-96 foot hoop house costs about $15,000 each, Colasanti said.

Those issues might be worked out if these gardens come to fruition.

“In terms of scaling up agriculture in Detroit, it’s very controversial,” Colasanti said. “Others are supportive and others are nervous about corporate farming in the city.”

Detroit City Planner Kathryn Underwood did not return phone calls Wednesday.

Tina Bassett, spokeswoman for Hantz Farms Detroit — a company that seeks to create a large urban farm within the city — said a number of jobs and tourism opportunities could be created with such endeavors.

“There is room for everyone for doing anything,” Bassett said. “This is a viable commercial farm that would be paying taxes to the city.”