When the Soviet Union collapsed, Cuba lost nearly all of its oil supply. Being an industrialized country, their transportation and farming capabilities were heavily reliant upon oil. Cuba entered into what they refer to as the “Special Period,” a time when Cubans restructured their agriculture system to accommodate a comparable trickle of oil from the international community. The caloric intake of the average Cuban shrank by nearly half. In urban areas people began using every open piece of soil as growing space, going so far as to raze unused buildings and replace the land with community garden areas. Today 80 percent of Cuba's produce is organic and remains locally grown and sold. They successfully evolved from an oil dependent consumer-based economy into an almost entirely self sufficient food chain.
There is a growing contingent of Americans not waiting for an energy crisis to begin producing their own food. Eating produce in-season supports one's local economy, doesn't needlessly waste fuel, and doesn't produce excess pollution. Many people feel a sense of pride when having a stake in where their food comes from. Imagine knowing your neighbor's name and trading your daikon radishes for their tomatoes. It sounds strange for city life, but it's actively becoming a reality.
Milwaukee Urban Gardens (MUG) works as a middleman to help prospective farmers obtain under-utilized city property at reasonable rates. With a grant written by Peyton Covey, MUG assisted Off the Grid Milwaukee in securing a three-year lease for the property. The land is in the middle of the Harambee neighborhood and surrounded by homes. Their plan is to install and maintain five 5'x20' beds filled with rich soil supplied by Growing Power and use organic farming methods. Pear trees, berries, root vegetables, spices, corn, tomatoes, cantaloupes...the list goes on. They also have plans to install rain gardens, which are essentially rock beds that provide rain water a place to filter without eroding soil and creating runoff. In addition to growing there will be a compost deposit area for residents who don't have the room to process their organic matter.
Off the Grid Milwaukee is a collection of folks living in Riverwest and Harambee who are committed to making the surroundings fit their lifestyle. Many are regular volunteers at the Riverwest Co-op. They are parents, homeowners, artists, entrepreneurs, writers...doers. The group openly invites their neighborhood to grow for themselves. In their words, “Off the Grid Milwaukee supports local projects designed to increase community self-reliance.”
Make Cake Milwaukee is hosting a bake sale fundraiser benefiting Off the Grid's project on Saturday, April 11th at Design Within Reach between 1-6pm.
http://offthegridmke.wordpress.com/
http://www.milwaukeeurbangardens.org/
http://www.dwr.com/
http://www.globalpublicmedia.com/articles/657
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Period