Will Allen visits Vancouver

Pro-basketball player-turned farmer, Will Allen is involved in more than 70 urban agriculture projects and outreach programs around the world. Matthew Hoekstra photo.

Former basketball pro spreads urban farming seed

By Matthew Hoekstra
Richmond Review
January 27, 2011

Excerpt:

Born the son of a sharecropper, Allen became a standout basketball player in high school despite his father’s strict rule: no sports until farm chores were done. He earned a basketball scholarship and later played professionally in the U.S. and Europe, where he reconnected with his farming roots.

It was in Europe where he saw farmers use intensive methods on small plots. He started his own garden there, growing food for his family and teammates.

On Wednesday he told a dozen local urban farming advocates that positive things are happening. Political change is being made because people are pushing for it, he said.

“I’m excited because 15 years ago, you weren’t in the game,” he said to the group. “It’s not going to happen overnight. It’s going to take a lot of passionate people to stay the course.”

Keys to making an urban farm a success are consistency and developing solid business practices and principles, he said.

Read the complete article here.