Fruit Futures Initiative Gary

Overview:Fruit Futures (FFIG) re-imagines post-urban Gary IN, with

multipurpose plantings of fruiting trees. As a critical alternative to sustainable
(re)development, cooperative landscapes link the region’s geography to the
biochemistry of fruit, engaging citizen scientists to reboot soil, study
microclimate, and explore favorite and forgotten small fruits towards resilient
cultural futures.

Problem Space:Fundamental rethinking is required when shifting population and

settlement patterns leave urban land degraded, abandoned, but not fully
“undeveloped”. The post-industrial cities of the Great Lakes share this condition
with other cities worldwide, and anticipate potential future sites such as those in
the American southwest, as water depletion produces eco-migration back to the
Great Lakes. The conventional development mindset and economy is not
inclined to address “un-development”–the need to literally re-vitalize by
reinstating situated ecological systems. This is further complicated when our view
of “place” is prescribed by an economic or cultural paradigm which is no longer
viable.FFIG brings this thinking to Gary, whose economic history and subsequent
cultural identity as an industrial center have obscured an important aspect of its
prime location: Gary has the same soils and microclimate as the famous
Michigan “fruit belt” just to the east. In spite of a growing interest in local food,
conversations about urban agriculture are focused primarily on raised bed
vegetable growing, not fruit or native soils. Seen in this context the vast available
land in Gary offers an opportunity to re-imagine and embrace the emerging
bioregional character of this transitional place as a new center for fruit culture.

Context I:Perched at the south end of the Chicago Metropolitan Area, on the
southern end of Lake Michigan, Gary was founded in 1909 by US Steel and has
suffered the predictable fate of single economy company towns, and similar
“legacy” cities left from extractive economies. The past four decades of Gary’s
history are largely a story of disinvestment and marginalization, exacerbated by
racism, and the impacts of suburbanization. Gary now has one quarter of the
population density of Detroit¬; there is no development pressure, and no reason
to expect “growth” in the coming decades. Repeated conventional urban re-
development efforts in the last decades have not altered this population loss and
economic decline, and none have benefited the lives of the ordinary residents, or
addressed widespread environmental degradation. Additionally, the region’s tree
canopy is in peril, further threatening quality of life for residents and wildlife
habitat loss. In spite of a deep-seated love for the region, many communities now
face a dimension of dis-engagement and inertia that is challenging to overcome.
This disengagement and low population density have created an atmosphere of
desertion that is reinforced visually and spatially. The stigma of past dysfunction
adds to these conditions.

Solution(s):Fruit Futures is a series of linked, civic, agri+cultural strategies that

initiate a new fruit culture and economy in Gary. The Community Lab Orchard
emphasizes experiential learning and curiosity. Designed as a planted wedge
representing time to fruit maturity, the Seven Year Lot embodies the future, as
neighborhood “fruit explorers” learn innovative and traditional growing techniques
for native and cultivated fruits. This hands-on fruit-growing is made explicitly
expressive with food-oriented cultural programming. Co-op orchards, (including
conservation orchards of native fruits which also offer wildlife benefit) function as
shared assets, alternative “degrowth” economic models. We have established
The Gary Commons Land Trust to shelter FFIG parcels from future market
pressures.The Climate Corridor focuses on temperature sensitive native fruits, a
linear planting transforming the streetscape into a microclimate visualization
transect at bus shelter bioswales along Gary’s mainstreet. This floral planting
links southern neighborhoods to the lakefront recreation areas and produces
crucial climate data as it beautifies.Most technical, the Remediation Arboretum, a
new kind of public greenspace and demonstration landscape, investigates how
fruiting trees and shrubs can revitalize urban soils. This civic research space for
soil and environmental questions links community efforts and public learning as a
source of civic pride.

Context II:FFIG is designed as a series of replicable prototypes that model and

inscribe new possibilities for larger Northwest Indiana. While fruits are an
extremely versatile and potentially catalytic group of plants for this bioregion, the
most important systemic impact of FFIG is the changing of perceptions about the
need and potential for alternative paradigms. This includes the shifting of
economic redevelopment strategies based in industrial heritage concepts to a
situated focus on this significant geophysical location. If these plantings become
visible and viable hubs in multiple Gary enclaves, and become self-organizing
whole systems, this could lead to a full regional re-assessment of priorities and
policies including: new land use patterns (per-urban agriculture) which in turn
change the appearance of the neighborhoods; strategic space planning that
recognize space and time as assets; structures for alternative, diversified
economies with collective ownership as basis; and place-based soil remediation
technologies that improve quality of life, civic pride, and enfranchisement.This
regional reassessment would further link food justice efforts to existing
environmental and conservation movements, growing potential for “community
conservation” and “just transition” from a globalized industrial paradigm to greater
re-localization, where decentralized participatory food systems drive local
economies, restoring prime soils and ecological health

Location:The location of the FFIG prototype landscapes is the Emerson

neighborhood of downtown Gary, Indiana, just south of the US Steel plant.
Holding large tracts of available vacant land and a handful of vibrant committed
residents, Emerson is ideally situated to impact the broader Northwest Indiana
region, and beyond.

Implementation:In 2016 A Blade of Grass Foundation Artist Fellowship program

recognized FFIG and the Community Lab Orchard with a development award,
allowing the first prototype landscape to move forward in 2017. A team was
formed including community members, professionals, and representatives of
community organizations. The Gary Commons Land Trust, a civic NFP is under
formation, further evincing our commitment to new organizational models, and
laying the groundwork to roll out the Climate Corridor and Remediation
Arboretum in the next 2-5 years.Once the planting sites are established (as with
other urban agriculture programs) we must then establish long term buy-in and
sustained engagement, in order to develop basic horticultural capacity in the
population. The Seven Year Lot design concept hints at the durational aspect of
this initiative. To build trust and attract new participants we have linked hands-on
fruit-growing with food oriented oral histories and storytelling, partnering with the
Gary International Black Film Festival, and the Gary Poetry Project. A “Jams and
Jellies” program of food related cultural events could extend this storytelling into
“Jam Slams” and “Jam Sessions” for greater inclusion and enhanced quality of
life. On a visual and visceral level, we expect the stunning natural beauty of
springtime fruit bloom to gradually reveal that the open space in Gary can be the
key to belonging, the key to inclusion and cooperation. As we can secure
participation from a broad range of community members we begin the work of
demonstrating the intangible goals of re-imagining “possibility” in Gary.

History & Vision:Over the last decade, fruit growing has emerged as a “trim tab”
principle, a catalytic nexus for whole-systems land revitalization. Working at
multiple scales, we have evolved experimental platforms to include integrative
perspectives into civic projects. In each case, the potential for fruiting plants to
expand our project aims has spontaneously emerged, revealing a web of
botanical, cultural, biochemical, climatological, geotechnical, symbolic, economic,
social justice, historic, political, aesthetic, ethical and nutritional potentials.In the
Slow Cleanup project a net benefits approach to phytoremediation of abandoned
gas stations, promising questions arose concerning the role of fruit exudates
(phenols) in remediation, which have yet to be researched and have led directly
to the Remediation Arboretum concept. Similarly, work in Lima, Peru on urban
agriculture, and on a citizen science phenology program for The 606 in Chicago,
precipitated fruit-oriented solutions based in dwarfing rootstock and temperature
sensitivity of native fruits, linking cultural heritage and place-based urban futures.
Once conscious of the integrative potential of fruit trees for the Northwest Indiana
bioregion, we have moved ARTetal Studio to Gary to reopen the question of
“beauty” and of ‘the commons” and explore the potential of multipurpose fruiting
landscapes to catalyze a new Gary imaginary.

Question 9: Compare and Contrast:While there are programs similar to the

elements of FFIG, none are linking these strategies into a comprehensive vision,
and in particular, a vision that accounts for and reimagines the challenging
conditions of post industrial “rust belt” cities including future opportunities in such
extremely disturbed sites.There are a wide variety of fruit growing initiatives
underway, particularly in regions like the Pacific Northwest, which also hold
excellent fruit climates. There are art projects (Boston Tree Party); stand alone
facilities (Bloomington Community Orchard); and city sponsored sites (Seattle’s
Urban Food Forest). These programs are typically informed by food system
resilience, self sufficiency and permaculture interests. Among the most
comprehensive is the multipronged civic initiative in Calgary, Alberta which
includes: community gardens orchards; orchards in parks; regional orchards; fruit
trees along pedestrian routes; and private residential fruit trees.“Cooperation
Jackson”(CJ) in Jackson, MS by contrast, models the new sharing economy writ
large, piloting a host of cooperative organizations to support widespread
sustainability and self-reliance economic strategies, including a Community Land
Trust on the “transition town” model. As an AFAM community initiative in the
American South, CJ is responding to different but related repressive legacy, with
differing opportunities to link economy and environment.

Impact:FFIG anticipates multiple possible short term and long term future(S) for
Gary due to the radically divergent population projections over the next 50-100
years. Thus, the vision and adaptation strategies informing FFIG consider both
human and non-human future “users” of the area, and model a diverse,
comprehensive resilience. These diverse impacts will require diverse metrics.In
the short term, tracking benefits for low density neighborhoods consists of direct
observations: counting participants in the initial orchard sites, fruit production by
cultivar, ensuring the financial and operational stability of the Land Trust,
recording enthusiasm for oral histories, and success in attracting resources to
ensure key components are up and running.In the medium term, the economic
benefits of cooperative ventures will require assessment, as will the contribution
to knowledge from the soil studies at the Remediation Arboretum. Citizen
Science programs observe social and environmental impacts from which we can
learn.Long term, if Gary population increases, the ability of the coops to “hold”
against market forces of gentrification, will be key to study. If human populations
decline, the important impacts of fruited landscapes across the region may be the
usefulness of various native and non-native species to support wildlife and
sequester carbon.

Team:FFIG is being developed by a core team of dedicated Gary residents,

holding collectively the expertise, competencies, and commitment required to
launch the full program:• Civic practice artist Frances Whitehead initiated the
project and serves as the team lead. Her work linking art, environment and civic
life is centered on the Great Lakes region.• Emerson resident, master
gardener, and educator Walter Jones is central for hands-on horticulture and
community connection. • Similarly, MIT educated environmental engineer Deb
Backhus, brings technical fluency with green infrastructure to operational work
with municipalities and the environmental sector. • Local Attorney Douglas
Grimes has served Gary with his rigorous legal mind for four decades, and
provides historical, ethical and legal perspectives to our work.We have recently
expanded our team to include Dr. Kimberly Gray, Chair of Civil and
Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University, to lead the research at
the Remediation Arboretum.FFIG is well known and supported by local and
national partners, government agencies, and organizations including: The City of
Gary, The Legacy Foundation Community Trust, Gary Transportation Corp, US
EPA Region 5, US Forest Service, Purdue Extension, USA National Phenologic
Network, and key area universities including Northwestern, Purdue, and Notre
Dame.