[Model D] The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative promotes sustainability and community on the North End

The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (MUFI) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 2011. Their goal is to use agriculture as a platform for sustainability, education and community.

MUFI founders purchased 7432 Brush Street on Detroit's North End in late 2011. The building is a vacant three-story, six-unit apartment complex in a state of disrepair, surrounded by vacant land that they use for farming. "We figured we would take a structure that is visually unique and needs work and use it as a community center and, eventually, our headquarters," says Tyson Gersh, co-founder of MUFI.

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[Model D] Farm City is the next major transformational project in ever-evolving Old Redford

There is a transformation happening in northwest Detroit's Old Redford neighborhood equitable to the grassroots efforts that have pushed along the development on Michigan, Woodward and Cass avenues.

Motor City Blight Busters have been the driving force of development and transformational change in Old Redford over the past 25 years (with $20 million in investments over that time period). John George, founder and president of Blight Busters, has worked tirelessly to find people with similar visions who support each other. "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts," says George, whose work has not only included demolishing blighted crack dens but also renovating empty buildings into community spaces. "It's one thing to clear land and walk away but another thing to stick and stay."

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The Week We Ate (The EID Week in Review)

Detroit Bike and BBQ City. [USA Today Travel]

Oh wait, but no, Slows hasn't quite yet managed to save the city according to this OUTSIDER PERSON. [The Atlantic Cities]

Maybe Zingerman's could save the city though ... [Food and Wine]

OMP FTW. Again. [NY Mag]

Traverse City YOLO! [MLive]

And circle gets the square: the old Squares in Ann Arbor will now be home to a third location of Royal Oak's What Crepe? [AnnArbor.com]

Tickets to the Metro Times Detroit / Michigan Brewers Guild 4th Annual Detroit Fall Beer Festival Happy Happy Fun Beerie Fun Time Party Fest(TM) are now on sale, plus Detroit BBQ Co. will be there and trying to claim their title as King of Beer Fest. [MBG FB]

Pure Detroit thinks Pie-Sci are the next pizza pioneers. [Pure Detroit]

Detroit Restaurant Week is back for round 7. [DRW FB]

If a pop-up pops up in the woods, does it make a sound? Detroit Pop-Up City Redux. (And here. And here.) [Metro Times / Schnack FB / Bottom Line FB]

There is a lot more happening in Detroit than hipsters hosting pop-ups. Here is a probing look at the city's treatment of ethnic-immigrant citizens. [The Atlantic Cities]

Congratulations to Malik Yakini of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network and D-Town Farms, winner of the 2012 James Beard Foundation's Leadership Award for his work growing food, community, and justice with such organizations as the DBCFS and The Detroit Food Policy Council. [JBF]

Fantastic story on a fantastic project. Detroit SOUP is the recipient of an $80,000 Knight Foundation grant, and are also trying to raise funds to transform the historic Jam Handy building into a shared community space to host their events and provided low-cost rental space to other community organizations, projects and artists. [Freep / Indiegogo]

Convicted felon La-Van Hawkins' Detroit Cheesecake Bistro opened last week. Yeah, seriously, it did. [EID FB]

The Avenue of Fashion is poised for a comeback! This is a really great stretch of Livernois by UDM that would be a natural fit for independent businesses to thrive. 1917 American Bistro is one of them. [Detroit News]

Motor City Meaty. Motor City Wine will now host monthly meat-ups. [MCW FB]

LIES ALL LIES. [Slate]

Well, we tried. Rock City Pies was bested by La Feria in this year's Hatch Detroit, which will make it purportedly Midtown's first "authentic" Spanish tapas + wine bar because apparently Great Lakes Coffee what with their wines and tapas doesn't count. [Model D]

Thrillist takes a look inside TAP inside MGM Grand Detroit; finds burgers, beer. [Thrillist]