There's something
I want to tell you guys
that's really important.
It's that Milwaukee
is the greatest city in America.
[laughter]
>> Will Allen may joke,
but he's making Milwaukee
a Mecca for urban agriculture.
>> I'm from Wyoming.
>> Los Angeles, California.
>> Homer, Alaska.
>> I come from Europe,
eastern Europe,
I live in Latvia.
>> Okay, come on in, you guys!
>> These pilgrims have traveled
many miles to learn from Will
and tour the Milwaukee farm
he started 20 years ago.
Since then, Will's become
a recognized leader
in the local food movement,
and a recipient
of the MacArthur "genius" award.
But it's been a very surprising
journey.
>> My parents both were involved
in sharecropping,
and we grew up on a small farm.
>> While Will grew up
on a farm,
more and more African Americans
were leaving their agriculture
roots in the rural south
for jobs in northern cities.
>> We didn't have a lot
of spendable income,
but the one powerful thing
we always had
was lots and lots of good food.
>> Even so, Will was
eager to leave the farm behind.
>> When I left the farm at 18,
I said never again
will I do this hard work.
>> As a six-foot-six teenager,
he thought basketball would be
his ticket out of farm life.
>> I don't know if you all
can reach up and grab some,
but if you can...
[laughter]
we'll let you take some home.
So, when I went away to college,
I decided to go to the
University of Miami in Florida,
where I was the first
African-American athlete.
I said that I would
never go back to farming.
I guess you should
never say never.
>> After playing pro ball
in Europe, Will moved to his
wife's hometown of Milwaukee.
One of Will's Milwaukee jobs
was managing several
inner city KFC franchises.
It put him in the heart
of a community that didn't have
access to the fresh food
he grew up with.
>> Coming into the city and
seeing mostly fast food places
and corner stores,
many of the grocery stores
were pulling out of these
neighborhoods.
So, it left a big void.
We're in a food desert here.
I think a lot of people
from the outside, that don't
live in those communities,
that say get rid of
all the fast food stores.
If you did that,
what would happen?
There would be thousands
of people without jobs.
I don't spend a lot of my time
degrading fast food places
or industrial agriculture.
What I want to do is give folks
an opportunity for a choice.
If anybody wants to try
a nasturtium, just grab one
and pop it your mouth.
They're delicious.
>> Will was surprised
when he made a re-connection
with his farming past.
>> As soon as I touched
the soil, I felt there was
something missing in my life.
I must have had some
hidden passion for farming
that just came out.
And I had this strong desire
to grow food again.
>> Will's KFCs had served
customers from Milwaukee's
largest housing project.
Now he sought to serve them
something better,
and to reconnect the largely
African-American residents
with an agricultural heritage
that had been all but lost.
>> Let's keep going.
>> He bought a group
of dilapidated greenhouses
to create Growing Power.
The small farm
grows and sells fresh food
in a densely populated
urban center.
>> We have to be able to grow
more food on less space.
So what we're doing here
is demonstrating how you do it.
That to me, is the future.
As we stand here,
we're losing prime farmland
all over the world.
So we're going to have to grow
more food for more people.
Figure that out,
and this is one of the ways
of doing that.
>> And the first step
is the soil.
>> Any farmer will tell you,
any sustainable farmer,
it's all about the soil.
>> All the soil you see,
everywhere,
we grow from waste.
>> Will set up a network
of food waste hauling
from groceries and restaurants
with businesses
happy to have it taken.
Even a corporate campus offers
up its used coffee grounds
to feed this enormous
composting operation.
As long as I have this stuff
right here.
That's the key.
This is the key to scaling up
urban agriculture in America.
Without compost,
without high quality compost,
it's not going to happen.
>> Will may be passionate
about his compost,
but saves his admiration
for his worms.
>> I always say
I like these worms.
I'll give you an idea
of what they do.
This is a perfect example.
Inside this banana,
this is what they do for food.
They'll get inside that banana
and they'll eat out all of this.
And their waste
will become the fertilizer.
>> Fertilizer
sold at Growing Power
as Milwaukee black gold.
>> And they live
very harmoniously together.
They're not fighting over food.
They enjoy the food.
So, and they don't talk to you,
you know.
Well, they don't talk to you.
They talk to me,
but they won't talk to you.
[chuckles]
>> Will will talk to anyone
about his passion for growing
or his latest project.
>> In this tank right here
we're going to be putting eels,
so if you come back...
Oh, they got me!
No, there's no eels in there
right now.
>> His next step is this
planned five story farm,
retail, and education center.
>> This is
a very important building,
as a model that we can study
and figure out how these cities
are going to build 50-
and 100-story vertical farms.
>> That may sound ambitious
until you look around
at all that Will Allen
has built so far.
And there's still a chance
to join him
and get in on the ground floor.
>> So if any of you
want to make a contribution
of $12 million dollars,
come and give me a check,
and I'll put your name
on every window and door,
and whatever you want.
[laughter]
I don't want a penny from you.
[laughter]