1840–1901 · United States
ヘイゼン・ピングリー / Hazen S. Pingree
Mayor of Detroit; originator of the 'potato patches'
An emergency response to depression became a forerunner of government-led urban farming.
Hazen Pingree, a successful shoe manufacturer, became a reform-minded mayor of Detroit in 1890. When the financial panic of 1893 pushed the city's unemployment above 40%, hunger and unrest spread.
In 1894 he opened about 430 acres of vacant city land for cultivation, letting jobless families grow potatoes and other crops. Some 945 families took part in the first year, harvesting around $14,000 worth of food. Dubbed 'Pingree's Potato Patches,' the scheme spread to other cities and later helped inspire the Victory Gardens of both world wars.
Government temporarily allocating land to landless citizens so they can grow food — this idea of 'meanwhile use' and matching still echoes in today's urban-agriculture policy.
Key contributions
- Pioneered a model of government opening vacant land to citizens (1894)
- Demonstrated urban farming as relief for unemployment and hunger