Wayne State to test soil for Detroit urban farms

Urban farming has been growing in popularity in Detroit and other post-industrial cities, but a lingering concern is over the soil where city farms are sprouting.

With virtually all urban farms planted on land that once held houses, shops, or factories, the safety of fruits and vegetables raised in Detroit dirt has remained a question.

Urban farmers have addressed this concern by testing their soil for lead, arsenic and other metals and pollutants before they plant. And so far, this testing has shown that most sites in Detroit are safe for growing food.

Now, a new study by Wayne State University aims to take this testing a step further and develop a more detailed method for assessing the safety of local urban farm sites.

The WSU study is conducting more thorough tests at the notable Earthworks Urban Farm on Detroit’s east side and a few other farm sites, all of which have been tested in the past. What’s different, said Lawrence Lemke, associate professor of geology at WSU and one of the principal investigators in the study team, is that the new effort is sampling soil from many more spots within each farm.

In the past, testing involved scooping dirt from a few spots in a given site and often mixing the samples together for an overall reading. The new WSU study will test many more individual spots within each farm to identify potential hot spots that could pose a danger even if the overall site is clear.

Specifically, the study will help create ways to develop reliable data on physical, chemical and biological contamination, particularly contaminants such as heavy metals, antibiotics, pesticides, food-borne bacteria and more.

The goal is to establish a more reliable method for ensuring that urban sites are safe for growing food. That in turn will help grow the urban farming movement — a movement that aims to deliver fresh, nutritious food to inner-city residents — and develop the city’s nascent local food industry.

“Our work will open up new research directions tailored to an urban institution, yet still address important agricultural issues,” said Yifan Zhang, assistant professor of nutrition and food science in Wayne State’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the other principal investigator in the study.

“In addition, our work will provide us with an opportunity to develop outreach materials based on our research findings to provide communities with guidance on how to grow food safely and in a sustainable manner.”

The research team was recently awarded more than $293,000 from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the project. Results should be known later this year.

Contact John Gallagher: 313-222-5173 or gallagher@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @jgallagherfreep.