Environment

Will Allen, Pioneering Urban Farmer

Published

10 years ago

May 27, 2015

By Paul Rockwell

“My return to farming was a kind of homecoming,” writes Will Allen in his riveting autobiography, “The Good Food Revolution”.

His parents were sharecroppers who fled North in the Great Migration, and it was hardly easy for Allen to return to the soil.

The history of agriculture in the U.S. is largely the history of racial oppression, and farming, his friends said, is “slave’s work.”

But for Allen, the great tragedy of African-Americans today is that, in losing touch with the land, they lose valuable skills: how to grow and prepare decent food.

Heart disease, diabetes, obesity—diet-related disease—is reaching epidemic proportions in low -income communities.

As CEO of Growing Power, Allen is widely recognized as the preeminent practitioner of urban agriculture in America. He was a basketball star, then a corporate executive, before he founded Growing Power in a food desert, on a two-acre lot less than half a mile from Milwaukee’s largest housing project.

He first sold food out of the back of a truck, then set up a farm stand, and soon his store became the only place for miles around to carry free-range eggs, home grown honey, and grass-fed beef.

He purchased a few rundown greenhouses, where he transformed city waste and food scraps into rich compost, life-giving soil. His innovative methods, vermicomposting (using worms to fertilize soil) and aquaponics (a closed system of growing plants and fish), yielded remarkable amounts of food in small spaces.

Through trial and error, Allen’s staff developed models for growing food intensively and vertically in a world of asphalt.

“We found ways to make fresh fruits and vegetables available to people with little income. We created full-time agricultural jobs for inner-city youth,” he said. “We began to teach people to grow vegetables in small spaces and reclaim some small control over their food choices.”

Allen’s energetic daughter, Erika, runs Growing Power at the Cabrini-Green-Public Housing project in Chicago, where the Fourth Presbyterian Church transformed an old basketball court into a verdant community garden.

Allen is extremely popular with kids. He works alongside students, teaching them the basics of soil cultivation.

“Most young people from the inner city have never had a face-to-face encounter with a vegetable that has been plucked from the earth…Children come to my facility for the first time with their pockets filled with candy, acting wild. Something changes in them when they walk up to my worm systems and put their hands in the soil for the first time. They mellow. It can be a spiritual thing to touch the earth if you have been disconnected from it for so long,” Allen said.

Growing Power includes an agricultural program for youth offenders who are transitioned out of the detention system through Farm-City Link.

A hopeful revolution is changing America’s food system. The Allen story demonstrates that growing your own food locally under conditions of self-determination is transformative. Karen Parker, the dynamic African-American co-director of Growing Power, says, “It’s a wonderful thing to change people’s lives through changing the way they’re eating.”

Her own parents, she adds, would have lived much longer with a healthier diet.

Farming, Allen insists, is not a fad. It’s hard, physical labor, but it’s not “slave’s work.”

The past has no power over Will Allen.

Paul Rockwell is a columnist for In Motion Magazine and lives in Oakland.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Electric UPS Delivery Fleet Coming to Oakland, Richmond, and SF

The project will replace the current Class 6 UPS delivery trucks with ZE battery electric vehicles. It will also install chargers at the Bay Area logistics centers. In total, 40 vehicles and chargers are coming to the facility near Oakland, another 10 in San Francisco and 10 more in Richmond.

Published

2 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo courtesy of the Port of Oakland.

The Richmond Standard

A total of 60 UPS delivery trucks serving logistics centers in Oakland, Richmond, and San Francisco will be replaced with electric versions as part of a partnership between the delivery business and the Port of Oakland.

The Port will use a newly announced award of $10.5 million in Environmental Protection Agency grants and $5 million from UPS to advance the fleet conversion.

The project will replace Class 6 UPS delivery trucks with ZE battery electric vehicles. It will also install chargers at the Bay Area logistics centers. In total, 40 vehicles and chargers are coming to the facility near Oakland, another 10 in San Francisco, and 10 more in Richmond.

The project will feature opportunities for green career pathways through workforce development and training.

“The Port of Oakland is grateful for additional investments to transition freight equipment and infrastructure to zero emissions,” Colleen Liang, the Port’s director of environmental programs and planning.

Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez said the “bold investment” will curb pollution, protect public health and provide good-paying green jobs.

“The City of Richmond welcomes this bold EPA investment in zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles,” Martinez said in a statement.

For more information, see the 2024 EPA Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicle Grant Project.

Oakland Post

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California Black Media

Gov. Newsom Goes to Washington to Advocate for California Priorities

Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled to Washington, D.C., for meetings with senior Biden-Harris Administration officials and members of California’s congressional delegation. During the week, he pushed for increased resources to improve public safety and quality of life in California.

Published

4 weeks ago

November 26, 2024

Oakland Post

Gov. Newsom visits the White House on Nov. 14. Photo courtesy of Gov.Ca. Gov

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled to Washington, D.C., for meetings with senior Biden-Harris Administration officials and members of California’s congressional delegation.

During the week, he pushed for increased resources to improve public safety and quality of life in California.

“California is continuing our work to secure additional tools and resources to improve access to health care, clean air and water, and secure critical funding to support communities recovering from disasters,” said Newsom.

At the White House, Newsom met with President Joe Biden and key officials, advocating for disaster relief funding, healthcare expansion, and environmental protection. He also engaged in discussions with senior Biden-Harris officials, including Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, to address water quality improvements and the San Luis Dam project, which will support water supplies for two million Californians.

“Building on our strong partnership with the Biden-Harris Administration, California is working closely with the White House over the next two months to deliver the critical protections and resources our communities need,” Newsom said.

On Capitol Hill, Newsom met with California Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, along with other Congressional leaders, to emphasize the need to approve pending disaster funding, healthcare programs, and environmental protections. He also previewed California’s upcoming special session to proactively address potential federal challenges when President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office.

Newsom’s discussions also focused on securing Medicaid waivers from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to enhance behavioral health services and reduce homelessness. The state seeks approval for the BH-CONNECT waiver, which would address behavioral health and homelessness, and the MCO Tax Waiver, which would provide over $20 billion for Medi-Cal to improve healthcare access.

Additionally, California is pushing for Clean Air Act waivers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which are crucial for enforcing air quality regulations. These measures are projected to prevent 11,000 premature deaths and provide $116 billion in health benefits over the next three decades, according to the Governor’s office.

Oakland Post

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Activism

LIVE! — TOWN HALL ON RACISM AND ITS IMPACT — THURS. 11.14.24 5PM PST

Join us for a LIVE Virtual Town Hall on the Impact of Racism hosted by Post News Group Journalist Carla Thomas and featuring Oakland, CA NAACP President Cynthia Adams & other Special Guests.
Thursday, November 14, 2024, 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. PST

Published

1 month ago

November 12, 2024

Oakland Post

Discussion Topics:
• Since the pandemic, what battles have the NAACP fought nationally, and how have they impacted us locally?
• What trends are you seeing concerning Racism? Is it more covert or overt?
• What are the top 5 issues resulting from racism in our communities?
• How do racial and other types of discrimination impact local communities?
• What are the most effective ways our community can combat racism and hate?

Your questions and comments will be shared LIVE with the moderators and viewers during the broadcast.

STREAMED LIVE!
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