The 2010 TIME 100

I find that since First Lady Michelle Obama has taken hold of childhood obesity I have seen more written reports on community farms, communal farms, how to do your own little garden farm.  I think that it is awesome, get back to growing natural healthy food.  It sure is better than fast food indulgence.

In our annual TIME 100 issue we name the people who most affect our world

Thursday, Apr. 29, 2010

Will Allen

By Van Jones

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."
Jones, founder of Green for All, is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress
TIME 100 Social-Networking Index: 0