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Farming In Chicago City

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A city with names like “Hog Butcher for the World”, “Tool Maker”, and “City of Broad Shoulders”, one can only imagine the industrious past to which these allusions refer. Consequently, as more and more modern Chicagoans wish to delve their hands into the soil and reap the filling benefits, they find themselves unable to safely do so. Pollutants from factories and numerous other sources have tainted the ground, and therefore require extra innovation in order to garden in Chicago. This paper will address our city’s history, the controversy over farming techniques, and how civilians in small urban spaces can combat the surrounding contaminated land. For years, the southeast side of Chicago stood as one of largest steel producing regions in the world. Here, manufacturing and shipbuilding reigned as a large employer for surrounding neighborhoods. Other industries housed in the city included slaughterhouses, meat packing, glue factories, tanneries, and fertilizer manufacturing. Steel mills by far discharged the largest amounts of waste. …show more content…
As more and more civilians wish to plant their own gardens, it becomes more apparent that one must test the soil of his or her proposed site before planting anything edible there. Sending the soil away to be examined is the safest choice to make. If it is shown to be highly contaminated with anything, do not risk growing plants in it. While certain species do not absorb as many pollutants as others, trace amounts can still be absorbed in roots and therefore into the food being eaten. According to authors Kloke, Sauerbeck and Vetter, “relatively low concentrations in staple foods may be more hazardous than higher contents in food items consumed in small

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