"GROW! BLOOM! THRIVE!" is the credo of our keynote speaker, Will Allen. Prior to his appearence at the 2010 FL Small Farm Conference, he is busily teaching communities across America the meaning of these words. For example, on June 4th Will Allen lectured at the Nsoroma Institute in Detroit, MI, and on June 5th & 6th he conducted workshops on vermicomposting and hoophouses for Detroit's Black Food Security Network.
Will Allen also maintains a busy schedule of teaching these words at his Growing Power Center in Milwakee, WI. For example, go to the website of a video on his efforts for nothing less than a FOOD REVOLUTION across America - see http://abcnews.go.com/WN/wisconsin-man-starts-good-food-revolution/story?id=10678021
While we all await Will Allen's appearance here to share the full significance of this credo to Florida's small farm and local foods community, here's the excerpt from the 2010 Time 100 magazine article of why Will Allen was voted one of he 100 most influential people affecting our world:
"At one time, the term urban farm sounded like an oxymoron. No longer.
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.
People come from around the world to marvel — and to learn. Says Allen: "Everybody, regardless of their economic means, should have access to the same healthy, safe, affordable food that is grown naturally."
The movement's aim is not just healthier people but a healthier planet. Food grown in cities is trucked shorter distances. Translation: more greenhouses in the 'hood equals less greenhouse gas in the air.
Just as important, farm projects grow communities and nourish hope. The best ones will produce more leaders like Allen, with his credo "Grow. Bloom. Thrive."
Resources and networking for the small farmers community of Florida. This community includes everyone from producers to consumers to advocates of locally-grown foods for local foodshed developement in Florida. The focus now is information about the 2010 Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises Conference.
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