Yesterday we had the opportunity to film with Momma Jerry Hebron at the Oakland Avenue urban Farm in Detroit. For the past 25 years this dynamic community leader has passionately develop this centralized location in the North End of Detroit.
The Farm grows 33+ varieties of vegetables and fruit using organic practices, produces value-added products—including herbal teas, eggs, spices, and jams—and employs several area residents. In addition to selling produce at its Saturday market, the Farm offers a “Harvest on Demand” option, allowing neighbors to pick up their orders at the Farm’s Community House at their convenience. Since 2010, our seasonal Saturday Farm Market has been part of Detroit Community Markets, a network of farmer markets coordinated by the Detroit Eastern Market Corporation.
The Farm is helping to address the real problem of gentrification and displacement in the North End by securing nearly six acres of land for the permanent benefit and empowerment of the neighborhood. Local cooks, chefs and community organizations come to select vegetables and fruits for their meal planning needs.
On this particular day we were able to film with Chef/ influencer Josmine Evans from Indigo Culinary Co. , She shares diverse culinary traditions and stories to reconnect communities with their cultural roots. As a cultural preservationist, Evans emphasizes the importance of learning from the past to inform the future, resisting the erasure of Black food ways and highlighting the contributions of Black people throughout the diaspora. on this particular day she was looking for Sweet Potato leaves for dish she was preparing. We learned that these nutritious leafy greens are often compared to spinach , rich vitamins, iron and calcium.
We also had the opportunity to film with Alice Bagley, a farmer and longtime resident of Detroit's North End. She runs Fields of Plenty in the North End as part of the Detroit Cultivator Land Trust. As she weeded out the area where her carrots are she reminded us growing organically has its challenges one being weeds.
We will be filming more with these urban farms in Detroit as well tell the story of significance of the relationship between the farmer and chef here in Michigan.