This week was the kickoff and visioning meeting for the rezoning for urban agriculture in Boston.  There was a long line to get into the meeting - it was packed - a good sign of things to come!
Mayor Menino stopped by for a short speech - he is behind urban agriculture 100% which is quite refreshing (not all mayors have the vision).  Also, Will Allen, the founder of Growing Power, showed us his 1,000 slide presentation...moving swiftly through the images of his organization's growth as well as their support of initiatives in other cities.  They help solve food dessert issues while incorporating green methods such as using solar power and recycling food waste (excess from veggie/fruit wholesalers, coffee grinds from local shops, and byproducts of local breweries).  In Milwaukee they train over 1,000 farmers a year and are continually improving their operations to support additional communities.  Will Allen and his team are inspirational - they are strategic and they get their hands dirty!
The last hour or so of the meeting was structured in breakout groups.  Each table discussed the 3 questions shown in the attached photos - lots of productive discussion regarding city wide composting, increasing the availability of community gardens, more neighborhood meetings, urban orchards, use of existing park lands for agriculture...and on and on.
I have attached some images and documents from the meeting.  If you have any questions, feel free to post them.