Green Options

A farmer in Milwaukee is taking the green roof to the next level. Community Growers’ founder Erik Lindberg’s rooftop garden is yeilding enough organic produce to launch a CSA.

[Photo via Community Growers CSA wiki]

It’s really more than a rooftop garden, it’s a rooftop farm! Check out this interview with the farmer, including a little tour of the garden!

Will Allen, an urban farmer in Milwaukee, Wisc., was one of 25 people to receive a $500,000 no-strings-attached MacArthur Fellowship this year. Allen is the founder and CEO of Growing Power, a nonprofit organization and land trust to provide people with good health via affordable, quality food.

To me, the fact that an urban farmer leading a nonprofit for the benefit of teaching communities to grow, in a slew of meaningful ways, can receive such a prestigious fellowship — and the associated financial boon — is remarkable.

Along with Allen, there was a saxophonist genius, a lighting designer genius, a neuroscientist genius, an astronomer genius, a fiber artist genius, a geriatrician genius and on and on.

Congratulations to Will Allen, whose work with the urban farming organization Growing Power has just won him a no-strings-attached $500,000 award from the MacArthur Foundation.

One of 25 MacArthur Fellows for 2008, Allen will receive the $500,000 over the next five years. The financial award is designed to give Fellows a level of financial independence so they can “accelerate their current activities or take their work in new directions,” according to the MacArthur Foundation.