Will Allen.
Urban farmer Will Allen has been named one of this year's recipients of the prestigious "genius" grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The grant recognizes Allen's work bringing affordable fresh produce and quality grass-fed meats to the urban poor and educating communities about sustainable farming. Allen co-founded the group Growing Power in Milwaukee in the early '90s to engage kids in food production and educate them about where food comes from. At the same time, the organization also worked to ensure that low-income neighborhoods had access to fresh fruits and vegetables via farmers' markets and other programs. The group runs a two-acre urban farm in Milwaukee and a 40-acre plot in Merton, Wisc., that both teach sustainable, low-cost farming techniques to people of all ages and backgrounds. Growing Power has also spread to Chicago, where Allen's daughter Erika runs a parallel program that includes a community garden, education programs for would-be farmers and gardeners, and an organic farm in Grant Park.
source: Chicago Sun-Times, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, The MacArthur Foundation
see also, in Gristmill: Milwaukee’s Growing Power founder snags a much-deserved MacArthur
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Comments
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kinophile Posted 5:49 am
23 Sep 2008
I was lucky to interview Will for my food documentary, and he really amazed me with his committment to food justice, his ability to harness "heritage farming wisdom" and his resolution to never take no for an answer.
His operation in Milwaukee (and his daughter's operation in Chicago) represent the height of progressive food growing techniques in urban areas. And yet if you ask him, what he really does is "grow soil." That's his main goal, everything else flows downstream from that.
I first heard about the Allens from Tom Philpott, and they are both truly remarkable people.
Chris Taylor
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