Urban farming is particularly interesting in a city with so much available space. In Houston's Plant It Forward Farms, refugees are given access to acres of land that they maintain and manage. Several of these plots have gone on to provide sustainable income for these families, and have gone on to become community centers for neighbors to come together and celebrate these previously empty spaces, and the people who have given them a new life. Teresa O’Donnell wants to live in a city with a farm in every neighborhood. She sees refugees operating these farms and becoming a bit like rock star urban farmers in their communities. And as executive director of the Houston-based non-profit Plant It Forward Farms, she is working towards these goals, one plot of land, one farm and one American Dream-seeker at a time. Plant It Forward was formed in 2011 as a social entrepreneurial venture by the software company to connect the dots between unused land, refugee famers in need of acreage, and Houston’s need for locally grown produce. Plant It Forwards Farms has been highlighted in the PBS series, “Food Forward,” on PBS Local News Hour, in the Houston Chronicle, and in Sugar & Rice and Edible Houston magazines, among other media outlets. Learn more about Plant It Forward at www.plant-it-forward.org. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

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