Well with the coming of Friday, Spring is in the air, and outside my dorm complex at SVSU, the wildlife frolics in the drainage ditch that my neighbors and I affectionately call the "Cardinal River." But the great outdoors are the only places enjoying the greenifying bloom of new life; the Saginaw Urban Food Initiative is realizing spring inside and out in an attempt to free food producation from the icy limitations of Midwestern seasonality. Almost five months into the project, we have conclusively identified some shortcomings of our design and methods. But in scientific research, failure is not defeat; learning what does not work is the all-important step that comes before discovering what works, unless you are lucky enough to spill some acid and invent the telephone.

To begin with the successes, the basil at living center south is growing fervently, which brings hope to the Southeast Community that the Pesto-making Party will indeed happen. The lobby of Living Center South, where Don Corleone (hp system) is located, is flooded with a healthy amount of natural light. What we have found, however, is that the indirect natural light is not enough even in addition to the artificial light to nurse a basil seed to a full grown healthy basil plant. Don Corleone sits next to a west-facing window. The plants on the rows nearest to the window grew quickly and healthily, while the plants just 3 feet away on the other side of the system grew about 25% as quickly as their brethren with sunnier real-estate. More importantly, unless I moved those disadvantaged plants into the sunlight, even after 2 weeks, they had not entered the second stage of growth in which they develop large leaves. The moral of the story: without some direct sunlight, basil will not grow to full size. However, once the plant has developed large leaves, it appears as though it will sustain itself with just the florescent lights and indirect sunlight. I relocated the larger healthy plants to the opposite (dark) side of the system and moved the runts to the sunny side, and the large plants have continued to grow larger at a fairly impressive (to a layman) under the florescent lights.

MEANWHILE, the basil at both the Houghton Jones Center and Good Neighbor's Mission has failed to grow past that initial stage of tiny little leaves. These plants lack any natural light. Instead of the larger, rich smelling leaves, they are growing very long stems in the direct direction of the halogen lights. Stems don't make for tasty meals, so that's no good.

This rampant stem-growing is a problem with all the plants. I was in the greenhouse last week and noticed that their lettuce grew in nice little bushels, while mine grows in long, viney, trellis-dweller sort of beings. The collards and spinache as well grow very long stems to reach closer to the scarce light. Though one collard plant has still managed to grow large leaves, the spinach doesn't look like the spinach formerly served at Subway. The lettuce of course grows very large leaves--tasty ones I might add--but in doing so blocks the light from reaching plants in the lower rows. Pictured here is the view of a collard seedling unfortunately placed underneath the row of lettuce giants. It's chances of survival are bleak, drab, dreary.

This image led me to a nice metaphor: a concentrated souce of light at the top of a hydroponics system works about as well as a concentrated source of wealth at the top of an economy. The light does not "trickle-down." Those plants lucky enough to grow big leaves are then more equipped to suck up more light, leaving the others to suffer in the periphery. It makes me wonder if republicans would succeed in hydroponics.

As a final word to this slightly negative entry, I would like to say that I see a great value in the project. Scientifically, we have established that a centrally located source of artificial light causes strange, obstructive growth and does not provide adequatley for naturally small-leaved plants such as basil or parsely. Also, more evenly distributed artificial light--florescent beams--while inspiring less stem-growth, still do not provide adequately for plants to grow to adulthood or deliciousness. Is there a solution? Yes. Windows. Find yourself a nice, south-facing window, and set up a hydroponics system there. Am I sure that will work? No. But it did well for teh basil plants in LCS and deserves a project more focused on how to set up such an operation. Socially, this project has more value. We have effectively begun a discourse among community groups concerning food supply in Saginaw. I am confident that this will lead to more progress in establishing what will not work, and then what will work, and people will have a chance to eat healthier for cheaper. In one of my classes, a local Saginaw resident said something to the tune of "women do not need to know how to cook; we have plenty of fast food." This person happens to be quite overweight. While I sympathize with her stance on gender equality, her solution is appalling. Women and men alike ought to take more interest in how to feed themselves. It is this interest that is the most critical factor in creating a more productive food culture in urban areas.