Big Vision Podcast29 Touko 2012

Good Food Revolution: Will Allen of Growing Power

Will Allen is an urban farmer who is transforming the cultivation, production, and delivery of healthy foods to underserved, urban populations. After a brief career in professional basketball, and a number of years in corporate marketing at Procter & Gamble, Will returned to his roots as a farmer, using his retirement package to purchase a plot of inner city land with greenhouses where he has built the country's pre-eminent urban farm. He is now the CEO of Growing Power (www.growingpower.org), an organization that develops community food systems.

In 2008, Will was named a John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellow, a "genius grant," only the second farmer ever to be so honored. He is also a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, and in February 2010, he was invited to the White House to join First Lady Michelle Obama in launching, "Let's Move!" - her signature leadership program to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity in America. In May 2010, TIME magazine named Will to the TIME 100 World's Most Influential People. In 2011, Allen was named one of the 7 World's Most Influential Foodies by Michael Pollan and Forbes Magazine. He was named the 2012 NCAA Theodore Roosevelt Award recipient. He lives with his wife in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and is the author of The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities.

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