Detroit is Different | Interview with jøn kent
Join Detroit is Different in this special live interview recorded at the 2024 Detroit Policy Conference, where host Khary Frazier and Bevlove dive into discussing how to retain residents in the Motor City. Guests explore the multifaceted aspects of community engagement and the roles we all play in shaping Detroit's future. Featuring voices of legacy Black Detroiters, NeighborHub Grant winners, and program directors, this episode delves into the heartbeat of Detroit's neighborhoods, discussing initiatives that empower small businesses and nonprofits.
Sanctuary Farms Receives the 2023 Michigan Recycling Coalition Award of Excellence for an Organization
Sanctuary Farms receives the 2023 Michigan Recycling Coalition Award of Excellence for an Organization.
Sanctuary Farm provides Detroiters with affordable food, monitors air pollution
On Detroit's east side, city blocks were once filled with houses in disrepair. Co-founder of Sanctuary Farms Jon Kent, an eastsider himself, is now helping lead the change in his community cleaning up city blocks and putting them to good use.
Urban farms provide Detroiters with affordable, organic food while battling air pollution
They've done a lot to help revitalize city blocks by turning them into urban farm oasis to provide affordable organic food to those in the neighborhood.
Detroiters are asking the right questions about the city’s solar farms plan
The initiative to build solar farms on vacant land in blighted neighborhoods has been met with both skepticism and enthusiasm from residents living near nine competing sites
Detroit Evening Report: Urban farm tracking pollution from nearby Stellantis plant
Sanctuary Farms, a small organic farm and composter on Detroit’s east side, has installed solar powered air monitors on their property in response to the 200,000-plus pounds of toxic chemicals the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the auto company releases each year, Bridge Detroit reports.
Detroit farms install monitors to track air pollution
Sanctuary Farms installed a solar-powered air monitor to track pollution from the nearby Stellantis auto plant. Partnering with the Ecology Center, they aim to empower residents with real-time air quality data and address environmental injustices.
Duggan shortlists nine neighborhoods to host city-owned solar farms
Some residents hope the program would cut down on blight and illegal dumping; others voice skepticism.
Congratulations to 17 SARE grant awardees in 2023
North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE) has distributed over $9 million to fund 313 grant projects in Michigan since 1988. Just in 2023, $1,318,142 in new funding will support 17 Michigan research and education projects. Follow the links below to learn more about the grants.
MI Farmer Advocates for Farm Bill Changes
Call for federal reforms that bolster sustainable agriculture and address climate change
Farmers on the Hill: Advocates and Farmers Join in Washington DC to Call for Food and Agriculture System Reform in the 2023 Farm Bill
As the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are busy working on their respective first drafts of the 2023 Farm Bill, farmers and advocates took an important opportunity to speak to Members of Congress about improved agriculture policy needs.
Small Business Spotlight: Sanctuary Farms
When thinking about Detroit, farming probably doesn’t come to mind. Two locals, Jon Kent and Parker Jean, are working to change that narrative, while improving their community in the process.
Food Deserts to Urban Oases: Circular Economy Solutions
With America’s gap between wealth and poverty widening, city dwellers take matters into their own hands with grassroots farming cooperatives
From farm to table: How urban farmers are helping food insecure neighborhoods in Detroit
"This was an ideal situation because there's a lot of vacant land here," Kent said. "This area basically is a food apartheid, so we basically wanted to be able to compost here and we believe in closing the food loop."
Fund helping Detroit’s Black farmers ‘reclaim the land’
Dozens of the city’s Black farmers will share in $100,000 in financial assistance from a fund created to promote food sovereignty in Detroit.
Young Farmers Can Help the US Meet Its Climate Goals. Is Washington Listening?
A new survey shows that 86% of US farmers under 40 practice regenerative agriculture. But many — especially farmers of color — struggle to access land and capital.
Next Bike Ride is Saturday, September 24, featuring Sanctuary Farms
Meet neighbors + explore the neighborhood at our monthly bike ride! On Saturday, September 24th, we are biking to Sanctuary Farms. Sanctuary Farms is a MAEAP environmentally-verified urban farm, located just outside Morningside at 3171 Lakeview Street. It is owned by jøn kent and Parker Jean, who started the farm in 2021.
Jøn Kent I Sanctuary Farms
"I wanted to do something I was passionate about that spoke to me,” Jøn explains. “For me, everything aligned with farming. The beauty of the work is that all you need is the grit to do it. Parker and I are lifelong friends, and the pandemic became the push we needed to do this endeavor together.”