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One man’s vision: to bring sustainable agriculture to inner cities.

By Olga Bonfiglio| Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor/ January 28, 2009 edition

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Whenever Will Allen arrives in a neighborhood, scores of curious

children seem to come out of nowhere to see what he’s about.
His pickup truck carries spades, hoes, earthworms, seeds, and a
truckload of compost – all the components needed to make a
garden.

Mr. Allen knows a garden not only gives inner-city kids

something to do, but it can also feed them good, nutritious food
and invigorate the community at the same time.
Judy Lowe
This vision of symbiosis between an urban setting and locally
grown food is what prompted Allen, a 6 ft., 7 in. former 02.02.09
Starting seeds under Christmas lights
professional basketball player, to purchase the last three farm The creativity of some gardeners never ceases to amaze
acres in Milwaukee 16 years ago and invite inner-city youth to me. You probably know about starting seeds in “pots” made
help him grow vegetables. of newspaper. But where do you put them after they’ve
Carrie Antlfinger/AP germinated? The Cheap Vegetable Gardener put his in a
Feeding the hungry: Will Allen, founder of plastic tub outfitted with a string of LED Christmas tree lights!
“Food is at the very foundation of community development,”
Growing Power, strolls through one of his Continue...
Allen says.
urban greenhouses. Mr. Allen says that
growing healthy food helps to build strong
His efforts have paid off in significant ways. Today his nonprofit, communities. Topics
Growing Power, operates a handful of urban farms and
Most recently in the news:
community growing centers around Milwaukee and downtown annuals (15) Internet (37)
Chicago. Beautification (4) landscaping (28)
Berries (3) Lawn (14)
In addition, Growing Power is helping to develop urban gardening sites and training centers in Birds (11) Local Food (3)
several other states and two international centers in Kenya and Ukraine. Its website, Blogs (33) Maintenance (1)
www.growingpower.org, posts research on its farming techniques as well as various how-to Books (6) mulch (4)
gardening videos. Botanical gardens (4) Native Plants (16)
Botany (1) organic gardening (7)
Allen’s low-tech, low-cost farming approach has earned him a reputation as a leader in the urban
bulbs (17) Ornamental grasses (7)
gardens and sustainability movement and a “genius grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. Children (7) Perennials (35)
MacArthur Foundation. Choosing plants (42) Pests (4)
Community gardens (7) pruning (5)
Yet Allen doesn’t want to just grow food, he wants to build healthy communities. The strength of
Compost (1) public gardens (9)
Growing Power’s success is centered on the philosophy that a community must literally be grown
Container growing (18) Q&A (12)
from the ground up.
cut flowers (2) recipes (6)
Design (8) Recycling (1)
“Every human being should have access to affordable food,” he explains. Around this concept of
Diggin' It (170) Reference (3)
good food for all, Allen has built a network of relationships among neighborhoods, schools,
Edible landscaping (7) roses (13)
universities, government, and funding agencies. “Everyone has to be involved. Everyone!” he says.
Environmental Gardening seeds (8)

http://features.csmonitor.com/gardening/2009/01/28/milwaukees-urban-farmer/ 2/2/2009
Milwaukee’s urban farmer | csmonitor.com Page 2 of 4

Hands-on education
Children are the immediate beneficiaries of urban gardens. By involving scores of youngsters in his
(32) Shade plants (1)
projects, Allen hopes to give them a sense of purpose and belonging as an alternative to joining
Equipment (1) shrubs (17)
gangs. fertilizer (3) soil (2)
flowers (33) Theme gardens (3)
Through Growing Power programs young people gain practical skills such as operating power tools
Food & Recipes (7) Tools (6)
and teamwork. They learn marketing by selling their produce at farmers markets.
For Kids (5) trees (20)
Fruit (12) Tropical plants (7)
And they absorb gardening know-how such as building “hoop houses” (greenhouses with arched
Garden shows (1) vegetables (45)
roofs) and raised beds, vermiculture (worm farming), and composting.
Garden Travel (24) Vines (5)

Applying their reading and math skills in the garden also helps to improve their grades at school. As Gardening Books (2) Water Conservation (4)

a result, an increasing number of schools are signing up for Growing Power’s six-week hands-on Gardening How To (62) Water gardening (6)

courses to learn about sustainable farming methods, entrepreneurial skills, and healthy eating Gardening Tips (98) Watering (9)

habits. Gardens and Life (82) Weather (5)

Gardens in History (5) Weeds (6)
The simplicity and practicality of Growing Power’s mission has attracted attention from the halls of grass (11) wildflowers (2)
higher education as well. College students from Grinnell in Iowa and Oberlin in Ohio have worked in Heirloom plants (4) Wildlife (9)

Growing Power’s greenhouses, milked goats, fed animals, and made compost. herbs (16) Your Community (6)
houseplants (30) Resources
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Great Lakes WATER Institute consults with Allen’s Insects (10)
aquaculture (fish farming) operation, which raises 10,000 yellow perch and tilapia a year on its urban Dave's Garden
farms. Allen’s system costs $3,000 to build, as opposed to a $50,000 conventional system. The Garden and Landscape Guide
The Herb Society of America
“You need an engineering degree to operate one of these [conventional] systems. I can teach you Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
our system in a five-hour workshop,” says Allen, who also consults Madison’s microbiology National Garden Bureau
department. “Our object is to make it as simple as possible.” National Gardening Association
Ohio State Web Garden
Urban farming has its challenges, and the key to its success is the soil, especially when the land
Plant Fact Sheets
may be contaminated from past uses, he says. “Without good soil, crops don’t get enough of the Rose care
nutrients they need to survive. When plants are stressed, they are more prone to disease and pest Royal Horticultural Society
problems.” The Science of Gardening

To achieve an organic label for its produce, Growing Power makes 6 million tons pounds of
compost for its soil each year from the collected food wastes of grocery stores, wholesale produce
companies, and moldy hay.

But the success of Growing Power relies on more than just rich soil. Its programs are a shining
example of “sustainability,” a key buzzword in the local-food movement.

In addition to providing local alternatives to processed food found at corner stores, its viable urban
farms create jobs, develop small businesses, and keep precious dollars in the community, says
Jerry Kaufman, a professor emeritus of urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Growing new farmers

Allen hopes to recruit and nurture a new class of farmers from among the young people he meets
through Growing Power’s presentations, demonstrations, workshops, and weekend seminars. He
strives to show them that small farm operations are not only doable but essential in promoting
sustainable agriculture.

“They’re the ones to take this forward,” he says.

Allen’s passion for agriculture springs from his childhood on a farm in Maryland where he and his
brothers cultivated their own garden. Although they were never wealthy, Allen recalls the many
times his mother kept a stirred pot on the stove in order to be ready to feed dozens of family, friends,
and neighbors.

He never expected that he’d return to farming in his adult life, but Allen discovered during his
professional basketball days in Europe that he just couldn’t resist the pull to dig around in the soil.

His daughter, Erika Allen, continues the family tradition by serving as director of Growing Power’s
Chicago projects.

In September Allen was awarded a MacArthur “genius grant” of $500,000, which is given to

http://features.csmonitor.com/gardening/2009/01/28/milwaukees-urban-farmer/ 2/2/2009
Milwaukee’s urban farmer | csmonitor.com Page 3 of 4

individuals described as “creative, bold, energetic and promising of more achievement.”

Allen plans to use his grant money to continue providing fresh produce to the poor while he
searches for new and creative ways of improving the health and diet of inner-city communities.

(NOTE: To go to the Monitor’s main gardening page — which contains articles and blog posts on
many topics – click here.)

( More stories )

Comments

1. Joel Gruver | 01.31.09

Thank you for sharing this important story. I had the pleasure of meeting Will Allen several
years ago when we were both speakers at a sustainable agriculture conference in Florida. He
approached me and struck up a conversation about vermicomposting. His physical stature,
warmth of character and sense of mission are all unforgettable. He gave me an extensive
packet of information about Growing Power and encouraged me to think about how I could be a
collaborator. After reading this article and recently rediscovering Will’s packet of information, I
am eager to explore opportunities for collaboration.

One minor correction, the amount of compost that Growing Power produces each year should
read 6 million *lbs* not tons, but this is still a remarkable amount of compost.
http://www.growingpower.org/compost.htm

Joel

Dr. Joel Gruver

Assistant Professor of Soil Science
Department of Agriculture
Western Illinois University

2. Judy Lowe | 02.01.09

Thank you very much for that correction. We will run a correction in print and have made the
change above..

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

1. Macarthur Genius Grant | 01.29.09

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