The “Greening” of Cleveland

Maybe the week that St. Patrick’s Day falls in is a good one to initiate a public conversation about turning Cleveland green — or at least substantially greener than it currently is. The idea certainly isn’t new, and there are other cities around the globe that are beginning to think along these same progressive lines.

The idea is quite simple... so simple in fact that one has to wonder why it isn’t already being attempted: Farming the vast tracts of empty fields that lie within the city limits. No, not merely planting little “city gardens” mind you, but actual tractor farming — starting profit-making ventures that rely on economies of scale to succeed. There are literally hundreds of acres just lying fallow that could be put under plow. While there certainly are hurdles to instituting such a project (anything worth doing poses challenges, doesn’t it?), they are not insurmountable... unless, of course, we convince ourselves they are, and consequently lack the political will, muscle, and brainpower to make it happen.

Like all other Greater Clevelanders I’d love for General Motors, Ford (or some other industrial giant) to announce they’re going to build new, job-creating plants on these vast, vacant and unused lots, but how long have we tenaciously clung to that out-dated dream while more and more of our industry is outsourced to China and India? Or, a better question is, how much longer will we foolishly continue to cling to it? But the one thing that can’t be outsourced is land.

As for building new homes on these tracts of land — that something that just ain’t going to happen in the near future. Indeed, many of the lots are so situated (by proximity to railroad tracks or other geographical challenges) that even if the housing market was still booming, this land still would not be suitable for home building. But, like it or not, the housing boom of the last decade is going to take a number of years — maybe even another decade — to return.

The world is changing, turning greener, and those who get out front of change usually enhance their chances of now getting bit on the butt by those changes. There is a nascent (but strong) movement in America to buy locally-grown produce and vegetables. The theory is simple: The carbon emissions from trucks that carry produce across country are killing the environment, and the rising cost of gasoline (which adds significantly to a family’s cost of putting food on the table) only adds more logic to the argument for growing our own crops locally. It reduces our carbon footprint.

Just think of the exciting synergies that can be created with entities such as the Oberlin Sustainable Agricultural Project (pioneers in this type of farming), the Ohio State Extension Service (which can offer scientific expertise as well as soil sampling), and the US Department of Agriculture (which has funding available to support such forward-thinking strategies). We don’t have to start out as experts; there are many people who love the soil, have the experience, and stand willing to help. Indeed, there is something very elemental, one might even say “spiritual” about digging in the good earth. A project like this would move Cleveland into the forefront of the burgeoning Green Movement and garner us tons of positive national and international attention in the process.

Also, there is the added benefit of utilizing formerly incarcerated individuals (many of whom are having a devil of a time finding employment) to do much of the work. This would make the idea also a jobs program — a true win-win situation for everybody.

The only argument against moving in the direction of establishing such an enterprise is that city officials don’t want to abandon their plans to create additional new housing units on these lots. But this doesn’t have to be a zero sum game, an “either/or” argument. Those housing plans don’t have to be abandoned, nor should they be. If the land being used to grow crops is needed for housing, simply plow the crops under and build the new houses — how hard is that?

But what is hard, what is difficult to overcome, is inertia of thought; getting people to think outside the box, getting them to explore ideas that are completely foreign to us city dwellers; ideas that can potentially help to solve decades of unchecked urban decay. We have to learn to visualize “the possible” — something we have no local model for ... but an idea that is gaining traction in other parts of the country and indeed the rest of the world.

What do we have to lose by trying? In the grand scheme of things, the idea of farming is — pardon the pun — dirt cheap. One thing is certain: If we don’t utilize this land for farming, most of it will still be sitting idle for decades and decades to come. Another thing is also certain: “Where there is no vision, the people perish ...” Proverbs 29:18.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com
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