Sanctuary Farms plot (source)
Sanctuary Farms plot (source)
Sanctuary Farms in Detroit, MI, exemplifies the emerging practice of closed-loop urban farming, a system that recycles nutrients and resources to minimize waste and improve sustainability [1]. Urban agriculture in Detroit is changing the cityscape, offering hope, and addressing issues of food access, security, and poverty. Innovative approaches in urban spaces include a variety of methods such as community gardens, backyard gardens, forest gardens, urban greenhouses, rooftop gardens, vertical gardens, urban beekeeping, urban animal husbandry, and aquaponics, all contributing to the increased resilience of urban food systems. These initiatives combat poverty and offer fresh, affordable produce, reducing food miles and enhancing local economies [2]. Although such advances in urban agriculture hold promise, they are intertwined with the city's infrastructure, creating scenarios with varying impacts on network duality: the relationship between infrastructure (urban farms) and the networks they both form and depend on (food distribution, waste management, etc.) [3].
By reimagining urban farming practice from a means-end linear system to a closed-loop system, Sanctuary Farms effectively “bends” the recycle radius of nutrients, organic matters, or even food to a local scale. Compared with water, which often cycle regionally, or CO2 or methane, which are cycled on a global and temporal scales due to natural carbon cycle, organic solid waste can be localized through urban agriculture. Reducing the circulation radius can be an effective strategy to minimize the need for long-distance inputs and significantly reduce the ecological footprint. This reflects a strategic shift towards sustainability, ensuring that the processes of extraction and waste generation do not perpetuate environmental degradation [4]. From a network perspective, this approach situates the city itself as a dynamic participant within broader material and energy flow networks. Sanctuary Farms does not merely consume resources; it influences and reshapes the urban landscape by establishing smaller, more sustainable cycles of resource use.
🤔 Inspired Research Question: How does the implementation of closed-loop urban agriculture affect the structural dynamics of a city's material and energy flow networks, and what are the measurable impacts on urban sustainability and resilience?
Urban farms, such as Sanctuary Farms, exemplify a localized supply of fresh produce that contrasts with the traditional, region-spanning supply chains of supermarkets. The production here is intimately tied to local communities, reforming the economic structure to favor nearby consumption and short supply routes, a sharp deviation from the high-capacity networks that often overlook the urban context. Urban agriculture in Detroit, adjusts the dynamic between production and consumption of food. Historically, industrial-scale farming has necessitated long supply chains, resulting in environmental costs and disconnected consumers from producers. Sanctuary Farms' closed-loop system reimagines this relationship by localizing both production and consumption, thereby strengthening community resilience and reducing the carbon footprint of food distribution.
🤔 Inspired Research Question: How does urban agriculture, such as practices at Sanctuary Farms, influence community resilience and environmental sustainability in contrast to traditional, long-distance food supply chains?
Closed-loop urban farming is an embodiment of network manifestation in which exclusion and inclusion can be critically analyzed. This model directly involves the local community, increasing inclusion by creating opportunities for residents to engage in food production and management. Unlike traditional, large-scale agriculture that may rely heavily on lengthy supply chains with high barriers to entry, closed-loop urban systems are deliberately accessible and inclusive.
However, exclusion can still persist in the availability of these resources to the wider population. Often, urban farms might serve specific communities, and their benefits might not be evenly distributed across socioeconomic strata. Additionally, the knowledge and skills required to run an urban farm, or to participate meaningfully in a community garden, might exclude those who have not had the opportunity to learn about urban agriculture. This consideration becomes pivotal when addressing the food security of the most vulnerable populations in Detroit.
This form of agriculture adopts a holistic approach to community engagement, ensuring that marginalized individuals are not only consumers but also become producers and decision-makers. By bridging the gap between production and consumption, closed-loop urban farming networks can become more inclusive, contributing to social equity while reducing the carbon footprint associated with traditional food systems. The network duality in closed-loop urban farming is a nuanced interplay between creating communal spaces that empower communities and ensuring that the benefits of such initiatives are experienced by all members of the urban society.
🤔 Inspired Research Question: How can closed-loop urban farming models be shaped to promote equitable access and active participation across diverse socioeconomic groups; ensuring that the benefits of sustainable food systems are universally shared directly into urban communities like Detroit?
[1] https://www.sanctuaryfarming.com/
[2] https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/5b7befed14384f3f98c6ae45c65f2df6
