Will Allen calls this a Good Food Revolution. And when standing shoulder to shoulder with 250 other people in a giant greenhouse on the outskirts of Milwaukee — where every foot of space is sprouting edible, nutritious, organic greens — it’s hard to not feel like this is a Revolution.
Last week I had the opportunity to attend a training and conference at Growing Power. Held at the 3-acre Growing Power main facility, the training was an insightful look into the operations of a highly successful urban community farm project. I toured the site, learned the ins and outs of Growing Power’s innovative farming systems, and spoke at length with staff and interns. Growing Power, now running 10 farm sites, managing more than a dozen greenhouses and an extensive aquaponic system thus enabling year-round food production and having processed over 20 million pounds of food waste into fertile soil, is (un)paving the way to urban food security and sustainability.
Ten years after establishing themselves, Growing Power is now being approached by Milwaukee city officials for advice and insight into creating sustainable communities. Milwaukee, with the help of Will Allen, has created a City Master Plan with urban agriculture as a major component of it. Public transportation is slated to be brought to every nook and cranny of the city, native and perennial plantings are replacing the ornamental non-native ones seen in public spaces, the Milwaukee Public Market is being expanded rather than closed, and subsidized housing projects are being renovated to include social and community services within them so to encourage people to stay in their communities. And just last week, the city of Milwaukee promised to help Growing Power raise $8 million to build the country’s first vertical farm!
Following the training, the conference, called “Growing Food and Justice For All”, was equally as exciting. It was there that I experienced the Good Food Revolution in action – at a very large scale. 250 people from all over the US (including Hawaii) and several from other countries were there to learn from Growing Power’s work and the work of each other. Each person came from a different community with different needs, different challenges and most importantly, different resources.
So, how is this all a Revolution? As revolutions go, this Good Food Revolution is driven by the people, and is for the people. And it’s only beginning to gain momentum. This Revolution is the energy of thousands of people across the US who work passionately and tirelessly to ensure that food – Good Food, fresh food – is available and accessible to every individual: to the young, the old, the rich, the poor, the disabled, the sick, nursery schoolers, college students, the urbanites, rural dwellers, the homeless and the homebound. This is the endless amount of resources and information each Good Food leader holds and their open and willingness to share it with others. This is the tangible action happening in our communities as a result of the communal knowledge. These actions beautify urban spaces. They teach at-risk youth how to farm and care for the land. They create urban markets where small family farmers can sell produce and make a living. They bring fresh produce to food deserts and corner stores where it has been scant. They empower people to live healthfully, to take control over their dietary choices and the health of their communities. They unite people through a simple and central component of all human existence: food.
The Good Food Revolution is changing the organizational structure of our food system as we know it. The new system we, each of us, are working to establish enables transparency and involvement at every level, from seed to fork. People (not machines) are planting seeds, tending fields, and delivering fresh food to their community. Food grown in communities is staying within those communities, creating jobs, and sustainable food economies.
As a stakeholder in our DC Good Food movement, the trip to Growing Power was an opportunity for me, personally and as Director and co-Founder of Common Good City Farm, to gain perspective on a community food project, on its management structure, on its methods of operations, its relationship to its staff, immediate neighbors, and the greater network of community food projects nationwide. Further, I was looking forward to attending a food conference that was more than just about how to grow food, but that was focused on how to involve people, how to ensure equity for all people, how to inspire people to be leaders and recognize their own potential. And moreover, it was exciting to represent DC, the Nation’s Capitol, at the conference and bring my new learned wisdom back to share in hopes it can help continue our momentum as leaders in the Good Food Movement here.
Altogether, in one conference room, talking about people, talking about food, talking about peoples’ access too food, about neighborhoods and growing food in cities, it was very clear that a Revolution is happening with our food system. Each person in that room is doing their part, in their way, to make sure that somebody else is able to have Good Food. And as we all know, “ a group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed that is the only thing that ever has.”
Liz Falk is a founder and director of Common Good City Farm.
