This drawing by Kubala Washatko Architects Inc. shows a five-story farm that Growing Power is considering building at its existing 2-acre property on W. Silver Spring Drive. Led by Will Allen, the nonprofit is close to launching a $7 million to $10 million fund-raising campaign for the project.

Milwaukee’s proposed 5 story urban farm

By Karen Herzog
the Journal Sentinel
April 29, 2010

Excerpts:

Now all Allen and Growing Power’s board of directors must do is find $7 million to $10 million to build the farm that Allen has been envisioning for nearly two decades to take his nonprofit enterprise to the next level.

Backers say the futuristic urban farm designed to intensively produce vegetables and fish could become an icon for Milwaukee, and a model for cities around the world to grow affordable, healthful food close to consumers. It also could create a whole new industry with thousands of jobs for urban farmers and those who design and build city farms around the world, Allen said Thursday.

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Photo by Jimmy Fishbein, Time

In our annual TIME 100 issue we name the people who most affect our world

By Van Jones
Time Magazine
Apr. 29, 2010

At one time, the term urban farm sounded like an oxymoron. No longer. (My red ink. Mike) A new movement is sprouting up in America’s low-income neighborhoods. Some urban residents, sick of fast food and the scarcity of grocery stores, have decided to grow good food for themselves.

One of the movement’s (literally) towering icons is Will Allen, 62, of Milwaukee’s Growing Power Inc. His main 2-acre Community Food Center is no larger than a small supermarket. But it houses 20,000 plants and vegetables, thousands of fish, plus chickens, goats, ducks, rabbits and bees.

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Organizers Seann Dory (left) and Bryce Gauthier will help plant seeds at 211 East Georgia St. Photograph by Dan Toulgoet, Vancouver Courier

Farm will produce fruit, vegetables

By Sandra Thomas
Vancouver Courier
April 28, 2010

Excerpt:

The city’s first rooftop urban farm atop a parkade on East Georgia Street could become a model for similar projects across Vancouver, says Seann Dory, manager of sustainability for United We Can.

“This will be a fully functioning farm that will create and support a social enterprise and increase job creation,” Dory said.

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Rebekah Boley, Brianna Boley, Nicole Saxton, Christopher Saxton and Jennifer Saxton harvest food to be donated to a local food pantry through the Hidden Lake Gardens Junior Master Gardeners program. Photo by Karen Gentry.

Junior Master Gardeners program

By Sue Van Fleet
GateHouse News Service
Apr 27, 2010

Excerpt:

“Kids love to play in the dirt,” says Stephen Boley. “At least my children love to play in the dirt.”

And once spring hits, many an adult is ready to do the same, as they prepare garden beds, visit greenhouses and get ready to enjoy one of America’s favorite pastimes.

But involving children in gardening can be more of a challenge, says Karen Gentry, education coordinator and horticulture educator at Hidden Lake Gardens in Tipton, Mich. Part of her mission is to get kids less focused on technology and more tuned to nature. The benefits can extend beyond better nutrition and exercise, she says, as they often grow up to be good stewards of the land.

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