Fifteen years ago, a former professional basketball player named Will Allen made a most unlikely career move: he decided to launch a farm in a low-income neighborhood in Milwaukee. His farmhands would be un- or ill-employed neighborhood teens.
At the time, brutal economic conditions were pushing the nation's few remaining African-American farmers into bankruptcy; and the concept of "urban farming" seemed more like an oxymoron than an answer to the inner city's economic and public-health problems.
Since that time, Allen's organization Growing Power has established itself as a model for how urban resources can be used to grow delicious, healthy food and revitalize neighborhoods at the same time. Growing Power's model was so successful in Milwaukee that Allen's daughter Erika has established an equally innovative offshoot in Chicago (which I wrote about recently here.)
Today, the MacArthur Foundation announced it has awarded Allen one of its prestigious "genius" fellowships. I hope this award helps Allen spread his vital message: food need not be a vehicle for spreading poor health and sucking resources out of low-wealth communities. It can also simultaneously build health and wealth. Congratulations to the Allen family on this much-deserved honor.
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Comments
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Delay And Deny Posted 2:57 am
23 Sep 2008
I guess it's smart put a farm in a city.
I dunno, a hick like myself would put a farm in the country and then build a small town nearby.
Guess I don't qualify for them there Mack Arthur grants...still, he was a great general and all.
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Bob Wallace Posted 7:11 am
23 Sep 2008
We can only sit back and agree. ;o)
Take unused land in a city, use local labor, and sell to a market that is close at hand. One can raise an amazing amount of produce on a small piece of land with the right techniques.
There's a big 'eat locally' advantage here, especially as transportation prices increase.
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Jonas Posted 6:19 pm
23 Sep 2008
Urban farming can't be scaled up or is of course never a recipe for solving the world's food problems - nobody disagrees here -, but it is a symbol of the mere fact that we must rethink the way in which we produce food.
An iniative like Growing Power illustrates this rethink well.
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