Rodale Institute names urban farmer, Maurice Small, ‘Organic Pioneer’

Maurice Small stands in the community garden he and others helped develop in Tremont near Lucky’s Cafe. Small is a pioneer in urban gardening and believes the gardens can help revitalize Cleveland’s blighted landscape. Photo by Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer.

This urban garden pied piper helps inner-city communities transform empty, blighted lots into green and growing nutritional and financial resources.

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Part farmer, part passionate activist and part teacher, Small is pioneering organic food security in Cleveland, Detroit, Louisville and other Ohio cities. We’re honoring Small as one of our Organic Pioneers on September 16th, but we caught up with him in advance to chat about how he found his passion and what he thinks we need to do to connect more people with good food.

Tell me a little bit about your back story.
My dad did the same thing, just in different ways. My father helped people create gardens, propagate roses, establish perennials. He focused on things that come back and really helped folks enjoy life a little bit more. It was great as a kid to watch him do that. He passed away when I was 8 years old, but so much of what I’ve learned about compassion and community came from him.

What was the biggest challenge you’ve faced while working on food security and urban farming efforts, and what was the key to overcoming that challenge?
The biggest challenge is happening right now. It is the same challenge we’ve been facing for decades. Getting people access to food is still a chore. There are organizations working on the issues around the world, but there is still not enough of that. The health of our communities could be improved substantially by urban livestock in cities like New York and Cleveland. But we’re not quite there yet. People still don’t understand the value. They complain about why everyone needs to have chickens!

You know job creation is a big part of it, too. But what job creation was in the 1960s is not the same as what is could or should be in this day and age. I met with a bunch of national organizers about hemp production as a means of job creation. These aren’t the kinds of jobs people automatically think of, but that just might be where the future lies. Rallying the common people and getting them talking the same language—being able to transcend the classroom and the boardroom and begin a conversation—is the only way to really overcome the challenges.

We haven’t come far, but we have made strides. There are more and more organizations that aren’t afraid to speak the truth about who we are as a country and as individuals, and where we need to be headed.

Read the complete article here.