(The Center Square) – A Black Detroit farmer says the city is trying to shut down it’s only cider mill and farm and is threatening criminal charges.
Leandra King, a farmer at Detroit Farm and Cider, faces jail time for owning livestock without a proper permit on her 5-acre farm.
If found guilty, she will be sentenced to two years probation, a $500 fine or 90 days in jail.
King has been farming for more than eight years during which she’s planted 130 fruit trees waiting for maturity but still hasn’t been able to open.
In 2019, King said the farm held a mock opening that attracted more than 600 people daily. But the farm ran into trouble when animal control confiscated some horses and chickens. Kind said the city wouldn’t “give me a clear pathway to legalize the animals.”
King said that corporate-owned farms -Detroit Horse Power and Pingree farms – have special ordinances for the city of Detroit.
King’s farm is family-owned, has a youth equestrian program, partners with Michigan State University, Detroit Public Schools Community District, and Wayne County 4H.
“We have a legitimate program that we facilitate for the youth in Detroit,” King said in a phone interview. “When you come here, the idea is not only do your kids get to participate in the programming, but if you’re a resident of Detroit, it’s free.”
The farm’s nonprofit arm aims to provide dinners and a show, such as farm-to-table dinners, and plans to open a Medieval theme with a horse show and a dinner.
Detroit Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallett told The Center Square:
“City of Detroit ordinances cannot be ignored simply because the person violating the ordinance is well intentioned,” Mallet wrote in an email. “In the past Animal control has removed horses, goats and other animals from the property. We are a City of more than 675,000 people. The people who live across the street from the non-licensed property have rights. They have the right to enjoy their homes free from animal smells and noise. Continual violation of our ordinances ultimately will create a consequence where fines and jail time is a possibility. We are protecting all of our citizens and we are trampling on no ones rights.”
King said her farm is in compliance with the Michigan Environment and Agricultural Development, the Right to Farm program through the state of Michigan, and the U.S Department of Agriculture.
Supporters, including BLM Detroit, want the city to drop the criminal charge and to allow the farm to open.
“So, many Detroiters like Farmer Lee have taken on the job of creating beauty, love, food, connection and purpose within the vacant lots across Detroit – the same lots that City Officials have ignored for decades,” a social media post says. “As the urban farm movement has grown across the city many farmers have hit roadblocks that corporations never see. Like many farms across the city, ‘Detroit Farm and Garden’ is a space of joy, pride, education and creating a re-imagine vision of Detroit. A vision that is being created by Black Detroiters.”
King is expected to appear in the 36th District Court on Monday.
