Will Allen, author of “The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities,” challenged George Washington University students, faculty and staff to transform the United States food system, which has left nearly 23 million people without access to healthy food.
The Rockville, Md., native took the Lisner Auditorium stage to a standing ovation on Friday evening to discuss his 2013 book, which was selected as the “common reading” for the University Writing Program's First Chapter freshman reading program.
The keynote kicked off GW’s yearlong UWP series centered on the theme “Plant Seeds. Cultivate Justice.”
During an introduction for Mr. Allen, George Washington President Steven Knapp said that the university’s interdisciplinary research, annual Food Day celebration and the work of Executive Director of Sustainability Kathleen Merrigan, are just a few of the many activities that make Mr. Allen’s book “highly relevant” to the university community.
“‘The Good Food Revolution’ examines the nature of food systems and offers concrete and meaningful ways that communities can address public health challenges and address food injustice,” Dr. Knapp said.
Mr. Allen, who was among Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in 2010, said that the vast number of “food deserts” and “fast food swamps,” in the U.S.—such as some parts of Northwest D.C. and neighborhoods in the city’s Wards 7 and 8—have created a public health issue for the rising generation.
The urban farmer called “seeking out good food” the challenge of students’ lives.
Author Will Allen told students to "celebrate food" and reclaim the U.S. food system by becoming growers. (Above) Students have their books signed by author Mr. Allen at the First Chapter keynote event.
“Many people in this country don’t know where their food comes from or the types of food they should be eating,” Mr. Allen said. “I am very encouraged by this university after meeting with students, faculty and folks. I think you are taking a leadership role, not only in food, but in food justice.”
Mr. Allen, who comes from a long line of farmers, described the evolution of Growing Power, a nonprofit organization that he founded 21 years ago on a rehabilitated 19th century farm in Milwaukee.
Today, Growing Power has 25 farms and teaches people nationwide to build community food centers that grow, process and distribute food. The Milwaukee-based farming headquarters receives 30,000 visitors each year who tour the grounds, participate in workshops and learn the secret behind good food—good soil.
Mr. Allen said that good soil is the key to becoming an expert urban farmer. Growing Power farms use vermicomposting, a means of growing soil from waste with worms.
“I grow soil to be able to grow good food, to be able to grow healthy people and healthy communities,” he said.
Using the urban farmer method, Growing Power has built greenhouses that make it possible to grow food in states with less than ideal weather conditions, such as Wisconsin, and in a variety of unique spaces, including abandoned school lots, a cemetery and a firehouse. The goal, Mr. Allen said, is to provide choices for local communities in what food they eat.
“Our food system is broken, and we have to do something about it." - Will Allen, author of the "Good Food Revolution"
“It’s all about choice,” Mr. Allen said. “Wouldn’t it be great to walk into any grocery store and see a big sign for locally grown, all natural, organic food?”
In the future, Growing Power hopes to build a “vertical farm,” a multi-use indoor facility that can grow different crops on top of one another. This design will transform food systems in urban centers with limited space such as D.C., he said.
“Our food system is broken, and we have to do something about it,” Mr. Allen said. “But we have this groundswell of young people who want to meet those challenges and build new food systems, and that gives me encouragement to pass along what has been passed on to me.”
Following the presentation, students participated in a Q&A session, lined up to have their books signed and speak with Mr. Allen about their concerns regarding food justice and the future of the food system.
“Each year we look for a book that connects with the interests of a wide range of students, faculty and staff across the university,” UWP Executive Director Derek Malone-France said. “The themes of Mr. Allen’s book—food justice, sustainability, economic disparity and urban renewal— represent important interdisciplinary focuses of both research and teaching at GW.”