Growing fish, food, flowers, jobs... and hope through local food and urban farming : the story of Growing Oshkosh, Inc.
(Book - Regular Print)

Thesis,MSES,Green Mountain College,2012

Includes bibliographical references.

As the culmination of my graduate experience at Green Mountain College, I present to you, readers, my MSES graduate thesis and applied professional project, Growing Oshkosh, Inc, including the conceptualization, creation, incorporation and case for support for Growing Oshkosh, Inca local community food project and non-profit urban farm in Oshkosh, Wisconsin dedicated to sowing and growing a healthier, more vibrant and more hopeful community. Growing Oshkosh, Inc. (or, GO) is the direct result of having completed a five-month Commercial Urban Agriculture (CUA) Training Program at the most famous urban farm in the countryGrowing Power, in (of all places) Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Personally inspired and professional trained by Growing Power's Founder and CEO, Will Allen, a MacArthur genius/fellow and author of the book, The Good Food Revolution, my local food journey's just begun, in terms of "feeding the world" and "saving the planet." But in terms of putting the finishing touches on my graduate careeralmost four years to the day after starting this journeyI will forever remember this day, November 7, 2012, as the day I closed one chapter in my life and began the next. Contained in the following pages are the steps I took in evolving my stance on community sustainability planning, to the creation of a local food system. From the inception of a pie-in-the-sky dream, to the building of a community reality, Growing Oshkosh has been, without a doubt, a labor of love, if not my salvation. Growing Oshkoshand other projects like ithas the phenomenal ability to truly make a difference in the lives of those servedat the individual, and community-wide, level. Local food is not only the sustainability wave of the future, it may just be the way to change the world and reverse the trends of our planetary instability. After reading this paper, I hope readers not only learn something, but also do something, for it is in the doing that we accomplish out shared sustainability goals.