My new hero
Will Allen is doing for his community what I’ve only dreamt might be done for today’s urban ghettos – he’s turned two acres in a run-down area of downtown Milwaukee into a superproductive inner-city farm.
 Will Allen, Urban Farmer |
If inside the greenhouse was Eden, outdoors was, as Allen explained on a drive through the neighborhood, “a food desert.” Scanning the liquor stores in the strip malls, he noted: “From the housing project, it’s more than three miles to the Pick’n Save. That’s a long way to go for groceries if you don’t have a car or can’t carry stuff. And the quality of the produce can be poor.” Fast-food joints and convenience stores selling highly processed, high-calorie foods, on the other hand, were locally abundant. “It’s a form of redlining,” Allen said. “We’ve got to change the system so everyone has safe, equitable access to healthy food.”
Read about his project in the NY Times. |
July 5th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
yowza. wouldn’t you like to take in a seminar from this dynamo.