By Jenny Whalen
U-M Law School
Surrounded by a sea of crumbling concrete, the lush green landscape of the market garden on Plum Street sits as an oasis in a city forged of steel and cement. For many, it is merely one example of efforts to revitalize Detroit.
For Nicholas Leonard, it is the very essence of the urban agricultural model that has inspired his professional career.
A 3L at Michigan Law, Leonard — like many residents of southeast Michigan — grew up calling Detroit home, despite living outside the city limits.
Now, as he awaits his May 2014 graduation, Leonard is eager to return to the city and to the project that has played a leading role in his life for the past five years.
“Urban agriculture is on the verge of becoming a legitimized revitalization solution for depressed urban areas,” predicted Leonard, who was first captivated by the idea as an undergraduate at Kalamazoo College. “My inspiration for going to law school, at least in part, was to mend this disconnect between the City of Detroit and the urban agricultural community. They are both working toward the same goal — revitalized neighborhoods — but they are not working together as effectively as they could be.”
An advocate who can work with both parties — and think creatively about the law and how it can be used to not only support but also incentivize the revitalization effort — is essential, Leonard said.
It is an idea he has spent half a decade developing, both as a law student and a volunteer with The Greening of Detroit and its offshoot, Keep Growing Detroit, two nonprofit agencies committed to improving the ecosystem and food sovereignty of Detroit.
“I remember The Greening of Detroit gave a presentation at Kalamazoo College, and I decided then and there that I wanted that organization and experience to be the focal point of my senior thesis,” said Leonard, who would later intern at the nonprofit. “I was intrigued by how they were using a common-sense solution to fight Detroit’s blight problem. The idea of Detroit residents using vacant land to redevelop areas of the city while solving food access issues and being cost-effective was very appealing.”
He continued to volunteer at market gardens and pop-up farm stands throughout law school, spending more than a few hours harvesting carrots in the shadow of the MGM Grand casino and selling greens at the foot of Michigan Central Station, Detroit’s once resplendent rail depot.
What started as an undergraduate paper topic has remained a constant theme throughout Leonard’s academic career, including his magnum opus of sorts, a note in the Michigan Journal of Environmental and Administrative Law, Vol. 3, No. 2, entitled “Utilizing Michigan Brownfield Policies to Incentivize Community-Based Urban Agriculture in Detroit.”
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