The Fight to Feed Detroit

DETROIT, Mich.—On a June evening around sundown, birds’ chirping dominates the soundscape on Pine Street in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. A robin flits around ankle-high grass, cocking its head. A family of pheasants bobs past on a road mottled with potholes.

Then you notice the hum of cars barreling down the six-lane Fisher Freeway at the end of the block. Beyond the interstate is the façade of Michigan Central Station and, less than two miles past that, the red letters of the Ambassador Bridge, connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. There’s a gas station, and, in the distance, lights from casinos. As the sun melts toward the horizon, it slinks behind trees and telephone poles. To them, someone has nailed a request: “Don’t pick the veggies, thanks.”