[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 146 (Thursday, November 15, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO WILL ALLEN AND GROWING POWER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GWEN MOORE

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 15, 2012

  Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a mentor, former 
professional basketball player, community leader, educator, author, and 
one of the most influential leaders in the food security and urban 
farming movement nationally and internationally. On November 17, 2012, 
Will Allen will be honored for his many years of service and 
contributions to the Greater Milwaukee Community by the Community 
Brainstorming Conference.
  Mr. Allen was born in South Carolina to sharecropper parents. He grew 
up in Rockville, Maryland where his parents relocated and owned and 
operated a vegetable farm. He relocated to Milwaukee, his wife's 
hometown, after completing both a professional basketball and business 
career. In 1993, he began Growing Power, a national nonprofit 
organization and land trust. Growing Power is the last working farm 
inside the Milwaukee city limits, with six historic greenhouses, year-
round hoop-houses and farm animal pens, all organized within three 
acres.
  The recipient of numerous awards and honors including: the MacArthur 
Foundation ``Genius Grant'' in 2008 for his work on urban farming and 
sustainable food production; in 2010, Allen was named one of Time 
magazine's 100 Most Influential People and worked with Michelle Obama 
to launch, ``Let's Move!'' a program to fight childhood obesity. In 
2012, Allen was presented the Security Benefits Corporation Award for 
Outstanding Service to Public Education by the National Education 
Association Foundation; an honorary Doctor of Agriculture degree from 
the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and also opened Growing Power's 
Deli and Food Market in Milwaukee's inner city. Will Allen is co-author 
of the book The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People and 
Communities.
  Will Allen teaches inner-city youth the entire farming process from 
planting seeds to selling produce at farmers' markets. Partnerships 
with Milwaukee Public School (MPS) and Growing Power have supplied 
40,000 MPS school children in 75 elementary schools with the food it 
grows. Over the past 20 years, Allen and his team have been traveling 
the globe setting up ``hoop houses'' that produce nutritious food and 
create inner city jobs. The hoop houses are home to peppers, cabbage, 
mushrooms and sprouts as well as Tilapia, Yellow Perch, Lake Perch and 
Coy. The headquarters and main hoop house in Milwaukee feeds 10,000 
people and uses renewable energy. Every January through June, people 
from all around the world attend informational and hands-on training 
sessions to learn the techniques and skills involved with creating and 
maintaining a green house. Growing Power currently has growing 
operations all across the United States and has made its presence felt 
outside the states as well, establishing farms in Kenya, Ukraine, 
central London and the Netherlands.
  Mr. Speaker, for these reasons, I am honored to pay tribute to Will 
Allen and Growing Power, whose contributions have greatly benefitted 
the citizens of the Fourth Congressional District and the world.

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