If I won the grant, I would use it as start-up capital for a nonprofit, organic, dairy goat farm in the city of Detroit. With 40 square miles of vacant land, an unemployment rate over 13 percent, and a huge shortage of access to fresh food, Detroit is an up-and-coming location for urban farming and ranching. A goat farm would create more employment opportunities from less land than crops.

The funds would pay for:
1. Approximately 20 goats, enough for a small herd (40%)
2. A simple pole barn to house goats, as well as fencing for the facility (30%)
3. Milking and processing equipment (30%)

Community members would be involved in the care of the goats in exchange for access to pasteurized goat milk, which would be available on-site and at a local farmers’ market. The farm would be self-sustaining after the initial investment. Profits would be used to purchase cheese-processing equipment and build a community center with classrooms and a food science laboratory. Goat products, potentially value-added commodities, would cater to the local/organic food niche market and reduce consumers’ carbon footprint by creating an alternative to imported food. All facilities would be available as learning sites for Detroit Public Schools and other nonprofit organizations.

Additional grants from research programs at Michigan State University, other institutions of higher education, and the state and federal government would make possible alternative energy research projects such as an anaerobic digester, which produces energy and compost.