b. 1949 · United States
ウィル・アレン / Will Allen
Founder of Growing Power; leader in urban agriculture and food justice
In the middle of a food desert, he built a school of urban farming.
Born in 1949, Will Allen played professional basketball and worked in corporate marketing before using his retirement savings to buy a greenhouse site in Milwaukee in 1995 — beside a large housing project and miles from the nearest grocery store, in a 'food desert.'
The 'Growing Power' he built was an intensive urban farm using aquaponics and worm composting (vermicompost), and at the same time a community hub for youth training, food education and policy advocacy. In 2008 his work earned a $500,000 MacArthur 'Genius' fellowship.
Allen framed urban farming not merely as production but as a 'food justice' movement — bringing fresh food, jobs and dignity to low-income neighbourhoods, epitomising the social meaning of today's urban agriculture.
Key contributions
- Founded the intensive urban farm 'Growing Power' (1995)
- Popularised aquaponics and composting and trained many urban farmers
- Framed urban farming as 'food justice' (2008 MacArthur fellow)