Miranda Idleman
ISL Project-Verbal Component
Geography 125/Holifield
Growing Power
Growing Power is an urban farm and community center where the people of the
community can come and get affordable and healthy produce and grass-based meats. Not only is
Growing Power a community based program but it is a national and international program as
well. There is a rural farm in the township of Merton, WI and an urban farm in Chicago, IL as
well as the urban farm here in Milwaukee. In order to efficiently run the farm and community
center, Growing Power employs between twenty and thirty employees and volunteers from all
over the community, and world, come and help out when possible. Will Allen is the Chief
Executive Officer of Growing Power and works on the farm and believes that, “If people can
grow safe, healthy, affordable food, if they have access to land and clean water, this is
transformative on every level in a community.”1
While volunteering for Growing Power, I first had to go to the orientation where I filled
out some paperwork, signed in and got a tour of the farm. That same day I was able to begin my
volunteering. I was fortunate enough to work with a group down from Canada for the week.
They were setting up an urban farm, kind of like Growing Power, in Canada and wanted to check
out how the operations went. We worked together making compost piles. Growing Power had
just gotten in a ‘fresh’ load of fruit and vegetables. The fruits and vegetables were still on their
pallets so, it was our job to take them off, throw the contents onto the compost pile and break
down the boxes. It was kind of a messy job because the fruit and vegetables were not fresh, they
were past their expiration and were quite mushy and gave off an odor that was not altogether
1
Will Allen. Growing Power brochure; 2008.
pleasant! Also in our group of volunteers was a man who had been travelling around the country
to different urban farms, such as Growing Power, and filming the operations and transactions of
how it is run. He had recently come from somewhere along the Mississippi River. The
Canadians and the gentleman talked about what they had seen so far and what was next on the
agenda.
Locally, Growing Power offers a program called ‘Farm-to-City Market Basket’. The
Market Basket delivers safe, healthy and affordable produce to neighborhoods throughout
Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago.2 There are three types of baskets that are available; the
regular, the junior and the sustainable baskets are put together to feed two to four people for a
week. The only difference is that the regular and junior baskets contain conventionally and
sustainably grown produce whereas the sustainable basket contains produce that is organically
and sustainably grown. Growing Power also hosts a number of workshops. These workshops
bring in local people from the surrounding neighborhoods, national groups and some
international groups as well. A few of their workshops offered are aquaculture, bee keeping and
animal husbandry, just to name a few. While volunteering, I was asked to staple brochures and
forms together for a ‘camp’ Growing Power was hosting. At this ‘camp’ the visitors were going
to be volunteering on the farm and growing the produce they were to eat. The forms contained
areas for how many would be coming and the name of the company involved. I thought that was
really interesting, allowing outside companies to come to Growing Power and learn what it was
all about!
Four of the greenhouses contain one of the most important cycles on the farm,
aquaponics. The aquaponics systems are irrigation systems that also hold fish. What happens is
water is pumped into an extremely deep and long in-ground ‘tank.’ In this tank are the fish,
2
Growing Power. www.growingpower.org
tilapia and trout for example, and the water is taken up in a pipe and fed to plants on top of the
tank. The water than is filtered through another pipe and fed back into the tank. With this
system, heat is produced. When the heat is produced, it helps keep the greenhouse warm. When
the greenhouse is warm, less heat is needed from a generator, which would cost more money.
The aquaponics system helps to regulate the heat of the greenhouse because the fish that are bred
at Growing Power are warmer water fish.
The Milwaukee community has been very helpful to Growing Power. Certain
restaurants, coffee shops, cafes and stores give donations to Growing Power. For example,
Alterra Coffee gives Growing Power its used grounds; a particular grocer gives its old or rotten
produce to them as well. The coffee grounds are put onto the Vermicompost, helping to keep it
warm and the decomposing grounds add to the castings making the soil rich and nutrient
induced. The rotten produce Growing Power receives is added to compost heaps or piles and
then as it decomposes, the compost is put into crates. These crates will contain compost soil
when they are finished and then be added to pots. The pots will then grow plants and require
worm castings to give it more nutrients.
Not only is Growing Power a local concept but they are national and international
program as well. They are known on an international basis by their operatives and community
services. That was a major reason the Canadians wanted to check them out. Nationally,
Growing Power has satellite training sites in Massachusetts, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia and
Kentucky.3 Through these satellite training sites, training of sustainable, healthy and affordable
farming techniques are taught. At the Milwaukee Growing Power, Asian-Americans are
employed, and they help with the growing processes of certain edible plants. From the United
3
Will Allen. Growing Power brochure.
States to Canada to Asia, Growing Power is helping communities learn how to sustainably and
affordably grow healthy food.
Working in conjunction with Growing Power is the Rainbow Farms Cooperative. The
Rainbow Farms Cooperative consists of 300 small, family farms. Growing Power created the
Rainbow Farms Cooperative in 1993 to support and train small-scale farmers throughout the
United States.4 These farms are located in Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Mississippi,
Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida. Due to the fact that farmers are having
difficulty keeping up enough arable land, Growing Power offers cash delivery for the product
and they also market the farms through their website and through word of mouth. Growing
Power does a lot more for the farmers but these were just two examples of what they do for
them. Rainbow Farms Cooperative produces a vast amount of products ranging from honey to
cheese, to eggs to herbs. Growing Power also offers a market opportunity for the farmers of both
organic and conventional produce.5
In order to address the issues of inequality and difference throughout the community,
Growing Power is located on Silver Spring drive. Growing Power is less than a block from a bus
stop, allowing the surrounding population easy access to the community center. The surrounding
population is largely African American which is vital to Growing Power. Since Growing Power
grows produce that is affordable, healthy and sustainable, the community is welcome to come
and purchase the produce. Not only do they sell produce, they sell grass-grown meat. In other
words, they feed the animals grass and hay; they do not spray pesticides or give the animals
steroids.
4
5
Growing Power. www.growingpower.org
Ibid.
Along with all of the good that comes out of Growing Power, there are a few downfalls.
First is that arable land in the United States is slowly being depleted by industry and community
growth. If arable land is no longer available, it is possible that farms may have a harder time
sustaining produce that is required to keep them going. Secondly, farm upkeep is not cheap.
Thanks to Growing Power’s help, the small farms have been able to keep going, providing that
they grow enough to sell. Third the local Milwaukee community is poorer than some and buying
produce from Growing Power may be available, it is possible that some cannot afford it. With
the poor comes violence. Violence may keep people away from certain areas of the city and
being a major artery of Milwaukee, Silver Spring drive has had its amount of violence. Finally,
Growing Power was able to be grandfathered into the city of Milwaukee. Keeping animals,
outside of dogs, cats and birds, is not allowed in the city. However, with being grandfathered in,
Growing Power is allowed to keep its animals and raise more as they are born. Some cities may
not be as understanding and would not allow for an urban farm to be run in any community.
While volunteering at Growing Power, I learned things that I had never known before. I
learned that Vermicompost was an important factor in creating rich, nutrient filled soil. When
moving pots with sprouts in them, I was taught that I had to move them carefully because it
would be very easy to disrupt the growing process of a particular plant. During my
volunteerism, I was able to conquer some of my fears of the creepy crawlies that I had for so
long been afraid of. In the process of making video clips, I actually touched bugs, with gloves,
but I still was able to relocate those that needed to be moved. However, the one thing that I
would not want to do or even get near would be the bee keeping. Although, I would assume, the
bees are more domesticated than wild, I still would not go near them. Because I was able to
conquer some of my fears, I found a new one that surprised me. I’m now afraid of turkeys. It
was very strange being so close to one, and that big, that it left a creepy feeling when I think
about it.
Growing Power is a great place! The staff and volunteers are ready and willing to help
the community. In fact, some of the employees volunteer at a farmers market as well. There is a
lot to learn while there and a lot to do. Even when it was only thirty degrees outside, I did
enough work that I was able to stand outside in a t-shirt and feel comfortable. Working together
with people from all walks of life really helps you understand how we interact with each other on
both a social and economic basis. Socially, we interact with people we’ve never had to work
with before. Economically, we interact in growing and producing for the community market in
the front of the main building. However, when we’re at Growing Power, we have one thing in
mind: grow bloom and thrive.