national disaster and local renaissance

Two different pieces in today's NYT illustrate the local vs. national food debate.  Marc Bittman, the Times foodie toured Detroit's bourgeoning local food movement, where modern homesteaders establish farms and orchards on bulldozed city lots.   The city charges a nominal lease to anyone who wishes to farm these lots and it seems like the Motor City may soon become the Garden City of the midwest.  Meanwhile, further south, farmers could lose hundreds of thousands of planted acres of corn, soybeans and wheat.  Much of the crops will be a total loss and replanting will be difficult or impossible this year.  If these mega farms were small holdings, there would be a much greater chance of planting different short season crops.  Local solutions vs. mega disasters.