Will Allen is my new hero
I've been sick with a bad cold so I haven't been out and about this week. I've managed to leave the house a few times, but generally, I've been home watching movies. I can update and tell you about everything I've watched, but first I want to tell you about my new hero, Mr. Will Allen.
Yesterday I went to the North of Nowhere expo at the downtown public library. This weekend's theme was food security, since Oct. 16 is World Food day, designed to raise awareness about food. Last night they set up an area with some vendors and info tables, and showed "The World according to Monsanto" (which I'd already seen), and Food Fight . Food Fight is a pretty decent film. It's a series of short vignettes that make up a documentary. The film delved into the story of the "Chez Panisse" movement, and the US Farm Bill. There were some bits that I would definitely have edited out. But what I found most refreshing was that some people said that the local food movement was elitist, and I found myself actively nodding. Then Will Allen appeared on the screen. He's a former basketball player and farmer who started an urban farm project in Milwaukee. He grows local food, teaches people how to farm, and sells/gives food to people living in his community.
His urban farm, Growing Power is located in a “food desert,” a part of the city devoid of full-service grocery stores but lined with fast-food joints, liquor stores, and convenience stores selling mostly soda and sweets. Growing Power is an oasis in that desert. His farm uses waste from food wholesalers in the city, and they also practice aquaculture. The waste from the fish is cycled back to the plants.
His greenhouses in Milwaukee can feed 10,000 and he teaches about vermicomposting, and sustainable farming within the city. His work mainly affects African-Americans, immigrants, lower income people and people of colour. Basically, Michael Pollan gives a lot of theory, but guys like Will Allen are walking the talk.
Here's the link to Growing Power and here's the link to a story the NY times did about Will here
I'd really like to go and learn from him. I learned even more about Will Allen's projects and other sustainable farmers in the States during a documentary I saw today, Fresh .
This film was a more inspirational call to action and really showed what some people are doing.
The more I learn about the industrial food system and sustainable farming, the more I want to try to buy more locally. I don't buy everything locally, but I buy a great deal of my produce at the farmer's market and hope to continue to do so as long as I have the resources to do so. I just learned today that a green bean grow in California loses HALF of its nutritional value as it is shipped across the country.
Yesterday I went to the North of Nowhere expo at the downtown public library. This weekend's theme was food security, since Oct. 16 is World Food day, designed to raise awareness about food. Last night they set up an area with some vendors and info tables, and showed "The World according to Monsanto" (which I'd already seen), and Food Fight . Food Fight is a pretty decent film. It's a series of short vignettes that make up a documentary. The film delved into the story of the "Chez Panisse" movement, and the US Farm Bill. There were some bits that I would definitely have edited out. But what I found most refreshing was that some people said that the local food movement was elitist, and I found myself actively nodding. Then Will Allen appeared on the screen. He's a former basketball player and farmer who started an urban farm project in Milwaukee. He grows local food, teaches people how to farm, and sells/gives food to people living in his community.
His urban farm, Growing Power is located in a “food desert,” a part of the city devoid of full-service grocery stores but lined with fast-food joints, liquor stores, and convenience stores selling mostly soda and sweets. Growing Power is an oasis in that desert. His farm uses waste from food wholesalers in the city, and they also practice aquaculture. The waste from the fish is cycled back to the plants.
His greenhouses in Milwaukee can feed 10,000 and he teaches about vermicomposting, and sustainable farming within the city. His work mainly affects African-Americans, immigrants, lower income people and people of colour. Basically, Michael Pollan gives a lot of theory, but guys like Will Allen are walking the talk.
Here's the link to Growing Power and here's the link to a story the NY times did about Will here
I'd really like to go and learn from him. I learned even more about Will Allen's projects and other sustainable farmers in the States during a documentary I saw today, Fresh .
This film was a more inspirational call to action and really showed what some people are doing.
The more I learn about the industrial food system and sustainable farming, the more I want to try to buy more locally. I don't buy everything locally, but I buy a great deal of my produce at the farmer's market and hope to continue to do so as long as I have the resources to do so. I just learned today that a green bean grow in California loses HALF of its nutritional value as it is shipped across the country.