Urban gardening is still a burgeoning movement, but it's gathering some mainstream attention. Not only is Michelle Obama cultivating an organic garden on the White House lawn, but the New York Times Magazine last week took the time to profile Will Allen, the founder of the Milwaukee-based Growing Power and a recent recipient of the MacArthur Foundation's "Genius Grant." The gardening pioneer is confident that his approach can be replicated in cities across the Midwest:

The reasons are simple: as oil prices rise, cities expand and housing developments replace farmland, the ability to grow more food in less space becomes ever more important. As Allen can’t help reminding us, with a mischievous smile, “Chicago has 77,000 vacant lots.”

Unfortunately, Chicago couples an abundance of open land -- much of which City Hall won't part with because they think it could later be used for development -- with a lack of viable grocery options in many city neighborhoods. Earlier this month, Mari Gallagher released an update to her 2006 study on the scarcity of healthy food. While she found that "food deserts" on Chicago's South Side shrunk by roughly 24,000 people in the last three years, over 600,000 residents still lack (PDF) adequate access to healthy food options.

One group trying to change that is the Washington Park Consortium, a nonprofit organization responsible for carrying out a comprehensive community revitalization plan written by a group of residents, church leaders, business owners, and neighborhood associations. Talking to WTTW this week, Brandon Johnson succinctly explained why urban farms are good for both the physical and economic health of the low-income neighborhoods:

Watch the full segment that aired on Thursday's edition of Chicago Tonight here.