Urban farmer, author Will Allen to visit UW-Whitewater

March 23, 2012

Some neighborhoods face chronic food shortages and lack accessibility to fresh fruits and vegetables. Will Allen, founder of Growing Power, is working to change that. Allen is coming to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater to discuss the importance of bringing both healthy food and valuable knowledge to communities through sustainable gardens.

The event is Wednesday, April 4 at 7 p.m. in the University Center's Summers Auditorium and is free and open to the public.

Growing Power is a nonprofit organization that trains people to grow, process, market and distribute food on their own. Allen established a garden in downtown Milwaukee that helps inner-city dwellers provide food for their communities while benefiting the environment.

"Not many of us even know how to grow food anymore," said Wesley Enterline, sustainability coordinator at UW-Whitewater. "It's important that we demonstrate a sense of sustainability so we can depend on ourselves."

Enterline said that healthy food options are limited in some neighborhoods where fast food is more readily available. "In poorer areas it tends to be harder to find good grocery stores. What Allen is doing is trying to bring accessibility to healthy food," Enterline said.

Enterline said sustainable gardens are important because they are based on a "closed-loop" system, so that the waste created from the garden helps to supply its growth as well.

Time Magazine named Allen one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010.

The event, part of the Kyle Lecture series, is sponsored by the Political Science Department and the UW-Whitewater Institute for Democracy and Civic Engagement.