Aaron Bartley's writings were recently published in the
Huffington Post, where he drew an interesting picture of living green in modern day rust belt cities. In the column, Bartley, Co-Founder of People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH Buffalo), talks about the successes of urban farming initiatives in Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Buffalo. Following is a blurb from his writings - if you are interested in seeing the article in its entirety,
click here.
In Buffalo, the Massachusetts Avenue Project, which trains and employs 50 youth annually to run its urban farm, operates two aquaponics systems that accommodate 25,000 fish while producing three tons of vegetables annually in symbiotic, closed-loop systems that require very few inputs. Two other organizations, CAO and the Wilson Street Farm, have also undertaken large-scale urban agriculture experiments, building hoop-houses on the city's East Side. An emerging organization, the Farmer Pirates Cooperative, has acquired 35 parcels of vacant land for agricultural use to advance a vision of co-operative wealth generation, autonomous living and the reclamation of vacant houses and buildings.
Photo: Cold Spring Farms/ Farmer Pirates Cooperative
to those who insist that we need oversized, charismatic, aggressive, "dynamic" personalities to lead social change or progressive organizations, i give you aaron bartley: thoughtful, measured, restrained, and heading up the most successful new social venture in town. no drama, no controversy, no crises, no feuding. just success building upon success. keep up the good work, aaron and everyone at push.