So Much Stuff, So Little Sleep

Yes, yes, yes…I know. I’m terribly, horribly, so far behind in blog postings, it’s practically criminal. Lots has been going on. I went to the Mother Earth News Fair last weekend, where I learned so much, met so many people, and was so incredibly inspired, I’m still in a bit of a fog. In addition, I’m seeing an uptick of interest across most all media in food issues. Young farmers are working together to create greater opportunities and change the laws that limit small farms. It’s all pretty exciting.

At the Fair, I had the priveledge of listening to Will Allen of Growing Power speak. I’ve talked about him before, after he was awarded a genius grant from the McArthur Foundation. (He is, after all, a genius.) From Growing Power’s 3 acre urban farm in Milwaukee, almost 10,000 people are fed fresh, organic food, including eggs, fish, and produce. Across all 3 farms in  Milwaukee and Chicago, he employs 250 full-time people, paying them living wages, and is changing the destiny of countless inner-city youth by showing them the joys of growing food. This model is now being replicated across 17 cities.

His presentation had almost 1000 pictures of all of the projects currently running within Growing Power. It was amazing to see. However, the most incredible thing was what he said last: (I’m paraphrasing here) “They say that this is impossible. I’ve found that in order to prove to people that something can be done, you just have to do it.”

He didn’t think about why it wouldn’t work. He just did it.