Urban Farmer Gets $500K Genius Grant

The MacArthur Foundation folks and all their riches have realized something we at Virtual Farmgirl have known all along…farmers are geniuses…and worthy of the same support and recognition as the scientists who make important breakthroughs and the luminaries who bring art and joy into our lives.

Why? Because farmers feed the world. We literally couldn’t live without them.

Thanks to this recognition, Milwaukee farm-preneur Will Allen, CEO of Growing Power, was one of 25 this year to be designated a MacArthur “genius.” The recognition comes with a $500,000 no-strings attached check, meant to be used to further the individual’s mission.

The last time the MacArthurs honored a farmer was when they picked Cheryl Rogowski as one of their geniuses in 2004. I’m betting Allen won’t be the last. Farmers are clearly growing in prominence and, the responsible farmers who are advancing sustainable methods and healthy living, are finally getting the recognition they deserve.

So what’s Allen going to do with the grant? I’d be temped to retire. Not Allen. He’ll be going vertical.

“I’d like to see Growing Power transform itself into a five-story vertical building being totally off the grid with renewable energy, where people can come and learn, so they can go back to their communities around the world and grow healthy food,” Allen told the New York Times today.

Allen’s operation isn’t just in Milwaukee. He’s been in my backyard and working for years with a favorite church of mine, the venerable Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, to work a garden that has helped transform the once infamous Cabrini-Green housing project.

I could go on…but I won’t. Congratulations to Allen and congratulations to the MacArthurs for such an inspired choice.

Hat tip Instapundit.