Will Allen's Road to Florida

Well, as was announced in our inaugural post, the big news of the 2010 FL Small Farm Conference is the addition of Will Allen of Growing Power, Inc., as the keynote speaker on the openning day, Saturday, July 31, 2010. To this end, this post is the beginning of periodic updates of Will's activities as the time approaches for his arrival at our FL Small Farm conference, i.e., Will Allen's 'Road to Florida'. We hope that letting you know about some of Will's activities prior to coming to Florida will continue to introduce Will to all of you and "pique your interest" in coming to hear him speak and inspire us at the FL Small Conference . . .

-- Wednesday, May 19th - Just two months after First Lady Michelle Obama asked him to stand with her in Washington as one of four Americans speaking in support of the launch of her “Let’s Move!” initiative to end childhood obesity, Will Allen of Growing Power was again invited to the White House, this time as a guest at a dinner to honor the official state visit of the president of Mexico. Before the event, Will commented that “It is an absolute honor to be invited by the president and Mrs. Obama to such a prestigious and important event. It will give me an opportunity to continue building important relationships that will help drive our Good Food Revolution.”

-- Saturday, My 15th - in the midst of hosting Growing Power’s Fifth Annual National and International Urban Agriculture Workshop, with more than 100 attendees participating in intensive training, he took time off from his duties to accept an honorary doctor fine arts degree from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and to deliver the commencement address to 140 graduates of the institute.

-- For an up close and personal interview of Will and Growing Power, Inc., check out the YouTube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLhi23aTmkk

-- Stay tuned for an upcoming video for our FL Small Farm Conference of an organic farm in Pinellas County that is implementing some of Will's production models

-- Finally, here is some food for thought: a major program by Will and Growing Power, Inc., is the development of Regional Outreach Training Centers (see http://www.growingpower.org/training_centers.htm). The question then begging to be asked - is it time for Will Allen to bring one to Florida???