Will Allen is an urban farmer who is transforming the cultivation, production, and delivery of healthy foods to underserved, urban populations. In 2009, he was recognized by Fast Company magazine as one of the world’s 100 most creative people. He was recently awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.

   In 1995, while assisting neighborhood children with a gardening project, Allen began developing the farming methods and educational programs that are now the hallmark of the non-profit organization Growing Power, which he directs and co-founded. Guiding all  his efforts is the recognition that the unhealthy diets of low-income, urban populations, and such related health problems as obesity and diabetes, largely are attributable to limited access to safe and affordable fresh fruits and vegetables.

   Rather than embracing the “back to the land” approach promoted by many within the sustainable agriculture movement, Allen’s holistic farming model incorporates both cultivating foodstuffs and designing food distribution networks in an urban setting. Through a novel synthesis of a variety of low-cost farming technologies – including use of raised beds, aquaculture, vermiculture, and heating greenhouses through composting – Growing Power produces vast amounts of food year-round at its main farming site, two acres of land located within Milwaukee’s city limits. Recently, cultivation of produce and livestock has begun at other urban and rural sites in and around Milwaukee and Chicago. Over the last decade, Allen has expanded Growing Power’s initiatives through partnerships with local organizations and activities such as the Farm-City Market Basket Program, which provides a weekly basket of fresh produce grown by members of the Rainbow Farmer’s Cooperative to low-income urban residents at a reduced cost.

   The internships and workshops hosted by Growing Power engage teenagers and young adults, often minorities and immigrants, in producing healthy foods for their communities and provide intensive, hands-on training to those interested in establishing similar farming initiatives in other urban settings. Through these and other programs still in development, Allen is experimenting with new and creative ways to improve the diet and health of the urban poor.

   Will Allen received a B.A. (1971) from the University of Miami. After a brief career in professional basketball and a number of years in corporate marketing at Procter and Gamble, he returned to his roots as a farmer. He has served as the founder and CEO of Growing Power, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, since 1995 and has taught workshops to aspiring urban farmers across the United States and abroad.

Chicago Growing Power:
Served 150 youths , produced 4 tons of food from 3 ¼ acres of land, composted over 50,000 pounds of food waste diverted from landfills, created 5 new farmers market locations, hired first full time employee from Youth Corps Program Chicago, worked with over 1000 volunteers

Will Allen 2009 Recognition:
Awards 2009 National Governors Association Distinguished Service to State Government Award; 2009 Frank Kirpatrick Award; Greater Milwaukee Foundation; Growing Green Awards 2009 Natural Resources Defense Council; 2009 WHY – Chapin Award Honoree; 2009 Heritage Award 29th Annual State of Wisconsin Tribute & Ceremony honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; 2009 Milwaukee Times’ 24th Black Excellence Award; 2009 Lincoln Gaines Award

Recent Speaking Engagements Will Allen attended national and international conferences in the Netherlands, Milwaukee Public Museum, American Corn Growers Conference, Kellogg Conference, Southern SAWG Conference, Virginia Biological Farming Conference, Georgia Organic Conference, NOFA Conference, America’s Planners Association Conference, Friends of Ryerson Woods Symposium, American Horticultural Society, Green Town Conference, Bioneers by the Bay, Pop Tech Conference, Center for Environment Farming, Small Farm Family Conference, WI Sustainable Council Conference,Yale University, UW Stevens Point, Columbia College, Santa Monica College, Marquette University, Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE).

Will Allen was invited by the Global Clinton Initiative in September 2009